The  Virginian 


The   Virginian 


A   HORSEMAN  OF   THE   PLAINS 


BY 


OWEN  i  WISTER 

AUTHOR   OF   "RED   MEN  AND   WHITE,"    "LIN   MCLEAN" 
"U.   S.  GRANT:   A  BIOGRAPHY,"   ETC.,  ETC. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY   ARTHUR  I.  KELLER 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON  :  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1902 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1902, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  April,  1902.      Reprinted  June, 
1902. 


Add'l 


GIFT 

'    •  • 


Norwood  Press 

S.   Gushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood,  Mass.,   U.S.A. 


COPYRIGHT,  1902, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  April,  1902.      Reprinted  June, 
1902. 


Add'l 


GIFT 


Norwood  Press 

J.  S.   Cusbing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood,  Mass.y   U.S.A. 


By  his  side  the  girl  walking  and  cheering  him  forward." 

Page  332. 


P5  3 

\1<5 
1902 


To 
THEODORE    ROOSEVELT 

Some  of  these  pages  you  have  seen,  some  you 
have  praised,  one  stands  new-written  because 
you  blamed  it;  and  all,  my  dear  critic, 
beg  leave  to  remind  you  of  their  author's 
changeless  admiration  1*  1*  1^  1* 


M878941 


TO   THE    READER 

CERTAIN  of  the  newspapers,  when  this  book 
was  first  announced,  made  a  mistake  most  natu 
ral  upon  seeing  the  sub-title  as  it  then  stood,  A 
Tale  of  Sundry  Adventures.  "  This  sounds  like 
a  historical  novel,"  said  one  of  them,  meaning  (I 
take  it)  a  colonial  romance.  As  it  now  stands, 
the  title  will  scarce  lead  to  such  interpretation ; 
yet  none  the  less  is  this  book  historical  —  quite 
as  much  so  as  any  colonial  romance.  Indeed, 
when  you  look  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  it  is  a 
colonial  romance.  For  Wyoming  between  1874 
and  1890  was  a  colony  as  wild  as  was  Virginia 
one  hundred  years  earlier.  As  wild,  with  a  scan 
tier  population,  and  the  same  primitive  joys  and 
dangers.  There  were,  to  be  sure,  not  so  many 
Chippendale  settees. 

We  know  quite  well  the  common  understand 
ing  of  the  term  "  historical  novel."  Hugh  Wynne 
exactly  fits  it.  But  Silas  Lapham  is  a  novel  as 
perfectly  historical  as  is  Hugh  Wynne,  for  it 
pictures  an  era  and  personifies  a  type.  It  mat 
ters  not  that  in  the  one  we  find  George  Wash 
ington  and  in  the  other  none  save  imaginary 


viii  TO    THE    READER 

figures;  else  The  Scarlet  Letter  were  not  histori 
cal.  Nor  does  it  matter  that  Dr.  Mitchell  did 
not  live  in  the  time  of  which  he  wrote,  while  Mr. 
Howells  saw  many  Silas  Laphams  with  his  own 
eyes;  else  Uncle  Toms  Cabin  were  not  historical. 
*  Any  narrative  which  presents  faithfully  a  day  and 
a  generation  is  of  necessity  historical ;  and  this 
one  presents  Wyoming  between  1874  and  1890. 

Had  you  left  New  York  or  San  Francisco  at 
ten  o'clock  this  morning,  by  noon  the  day  after 
to-morrow  you  could  step  out  at  Cheyenne.  There 
you  would  stand  at  the  heart  of  the  world  that 
is  the  subject  of  my  picture,  yet  you  would  look 
around  you  in  vain  for  the  reality.  It  is  a  van 
ished  world.  No  journeys,  save  those  which 
memory  can  take,  will  bring  you  to  it  now.  The 
mountains  are  there,  far  and  shining,  and  the 
sunlight,  and  the  infinite  earth,  and  the  air  that 
seems  forever  the  true  fountain  of  youth,  —  but 
where  is  the  buffalo,  and  the  wild  antelope,  and 
where  the  horseman  with  his  pasturing  thou 
sands  ?  So  like  its  old  self  does  the  sage-brush 
seem  when  revisited,  that  you  wait  for  the  horse 
man  to  appear. 

But  he  will  never  come  again.  He  rides  in 
his  historic  yesterday.  You  will  no  more  see 
him  gallop  out  of  the  unchanging  silence  than 
you  will  see  Columbus  on  the  unchanging  sea 
come  sailing  from  Palos  with  his  caravels. 


TO    THE   READER  ix 

And  yet  the  horseman  is  still  so  near  our  day 
that  in  some  chapters  of  this  book,  which  were 
published  separate  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  present  tense  was  used.  It  is  true 
no  longer.  In  those  chapters  it  has  been  changed, 
and  verbs  like  "  is  "  and  "  have  "  now  read  "  was  " 
and  "had."'  Time  has  flowed  faster  than  my  ink. 

What  is  become  of  the  horseman,  the  cow- 
puncher,  the  last  romantic  figure  upon  our  soil  ? 
For  he  was  romantic.  Whatever  he  did,  he  did 
with  his  might.  The  bread  that  he  earned  was 
earned  hard,  the  wages  that  he  squandered  were 
squandered  hard,  —  half  a  year's  pay  sometimes 
gone  in  a  night, —  "blown  in,"  as  he  expressed  it, 
or  "  blowed  in,"  to  be  perfectly  accurate.  Well, 
he  will  be  here  among  us  always,  invisible,  wait 
ing  his  chance  to  live  and  play  as  he  would  like. 
His  wild  kind  has  been  among  us  always,  since 
the  beginning:  a  young  man  with  his  tempta 
tions,  a  hero  without  wings. 

The  cow-puncher's  ungoverned  hours  did  not 
unman  him.  If  he  gave  his  word,  he  kept  it; 
Wall  Street  would  have  found  him  behind  the 
times.  Nor  did  he  talk  lewdly  to  women  *  New 
port  would  have  thought  him  old-fashioned.  He 
and  his  brief  epoch  make  a  complete  picture,  for 
in  themselves  they  were  as  complete  as  the  pio 
neers  of  the  land  or  the  explorers  of  the  sea. 
A  transition  has  followed  the  horseman  of  the 


x  TO   THE   READER 

plains ;  a  shapeless  state,  a  condition  of  men  and 
manners  as  unlovely  as  is  that  moment  in  the 
year  when  winter  is  gone  and  spring  not  come, 
and  the  face  of  Nature  is  ugly.  I  shall  not  dwell 
upon  it  here.  Those  who  have  seen  it  know  well 
what  I  mean.  Such  transition  was  inevitable. 
Let  us  give  thanks  that  it  is  but  a  transition, 
and  not  a  finality. 

Sometimes  readers  inquire,  Did  I  know  the 
Virginian  ?  As  well,  I  hope,  as  a  father  should 
know  his  son.  And  sometimes  it  is  asked,  Was 
such  and  such  a  thing  true  ?  Now  to  this  I 
have  the  best  answer  in  the  world.  Once  a  cow- 
puncher  listened  patiently  while  I  read  him  a 
manuscript.  It  concerned  an  event  upon  an 
Indian  reservation.  "  Was  that  the  Crow  reser 
vation  ? "  he  inquired  at  the  finish.  I  told  him 
that  it  was  no  real  reservation  and  no  real  event ; 
and  his  face  expressed  displeasure.  "  Why,"  he 
demanded,  "  do  you  waste  your  time  writing  what 
never  happened,  when  you  know  so  many  things 
that  did  happen  ?  " 

And  I  could  no  more  help  telling  him  that  this 
was  the  highest  compliment  ever  paid  me  than  I 
have  been  able  to  help  telling  you  about  it  here ! 

CHARLESTON,  S.C., 
March  3ist,  1902. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.    ENTER  THE  MAN i 

II.  "WHEN  YOU  SAY  THAT,  SMILE!"  ....        9 

III.  STEVE  TREATS 31 

IV.  DEEP  INTO  CATTLE  LAND 43 

•*V.    ENTER  THE  WOMAN 60 

"VI.    EM'LY 65 

VII.    THROUGH  Two  SNOWS 85 

*VIII.    THE  SINCERE  SPINSTER 90 

MX.  THE  SPINSTER  MEETS  THE  UNKNOWN    ...      96 

N  X.    WHERE  FANCY  WAS  BRED 107 

XI.  "YOU'RE   GOING  TO   LOVE  ME   BEFORE  WE   GET 

THROUGH" 123 

XII.    QUALITY  AND  EQUALITY 137 

XIII.  THE  GAME  AND  THE  NATION  — ACT  FIRST  .        .     147 

XIV.  BETWEEN  THE  ACTS 157 

XV.  THE  GAME  AND  THE  NATION  —  ACT  SECOND        .     165 

XVI.  THE  GAME  AND  THE  NATION  — LAST  ACT    .        .     174 

XVII.       SCIPIO   MORALIZES 203 

XVIII.  "  WOULD  YOU  BE  A  PARSON  ?"      .        .       ^        .210 

XIX.  DR.    MACBRIDE   BEGS   PARDON           .            .            .            .222 

XX.  THE  JUDGE  IGNORES  PARTICULARS        .        .        .229 

XXI.    IN_  A  STATE  OF  SIN 235 


THE   VIRGINIAN 


ENTER   THE    MAN 

SOME  notable  sight  was  drawing  the  passengers, 
both  men  and  women,  to  the  window ;  and  there 
fore  I  rose  and  crossed  the  car  to  see  what  it  was. 
I  saw  near  the  track  an  enclosure,  and  round  it 
some  laughing  men,  and  inside  it  some  whirling 
dust,  and  amid  the  dust  some  horses,  plunging, 
huddling,  and  dodging.  They  were  cow  ponies 
in  a  corral,  and  one  of  them  would  not  be  caught, 
no  matter  who  threw  the  rope.  We  had  plenty 
of  time  to  watch  this  sport,  for  our  train  had 
stopped  that  the  engine  might  take  water  at  the 
tank  before  it  pulled  us  up  beside  the  station  plat 
form  of  Medicine  Bow.  We  were  also  six  hours 
late,  and  starving  for  entertainment.  The  pony 
in  the  corral  was  wise,  and  rapid  of  limb.  Have 
you  seen  a  skilful  boxer  watch  his  antagonist  with 
a  quiet,  incessant  eye  ?  Such  an  eye  as  this  did 
the  pony  keep  upon  whatever  man  took  the  rope. 
The  man  might  pretend  to  look  at  the  weather, 
which  was  fine ;  or  he  might  affect  earnest  con 
versation  with  a  bystander :  it  was  bootless.  The 
pony  saw  through  it.  No  feint  hoodwinked  him. 
This  animal  was  thoroughly  a  man  of  the  world. 
His  undistracted  eye  stayed  fixed  upon  the  dissem- 


2  THE   VIRGINIAN 

bling  foe,  and  the  gravity  of  his  horse-expression 
made  the  matter  one  of  high  comedy.  Then  the 
rope  would  sail  out  at  him,  but  he  was  already 
elsewhere ;  and  if  horses  laugh,  gayety  must  have 
abounded  in  that  corral.  Sometimes  the  pony 
took  a  turn  alone;  next  he  had  slid  in  a  flash 
among  his  brothers,  and  the  whole  of  them  like  a 
school  of  playful  fish  whipped  round  the  corral, 
kicking  up  the  fine  dust,  and  (I  take  it)  roaring 
with  laughter.  Through  the  window-glass  of  our 
Pullman  the  thud  of  their  mischievous  hoofs 
reached  us,  and  the  strong,  humorous  curses  of 
the  cow-boys.  Then  for  the  first  time  I  noticed 
a  man  who  sat  on  the  high  gate  of  the  corral, 
looking  on.  For  he  now  climbed  down  with  the 
undulations  of  a  tiger,  smooth  and  easy,  as  if  his 
muscles  flowed  beneath  his  skin.  The  others  had 
all  visibly  whirled  the  rope,  some  of  them  even 
shoulder  high.  I  did  not  see  his  arm  lift  or  move. 
He  appeared  to  hold  the  rope  down  low,  by  his 
leg.  But  like  a  sudden  snake  I  saw  the  noose  go 
out  its  length  and  fall  true ;  and  the  thing  was 
done.  As  the  captured  pony  walked  in  with  a 
sweet,  church-door  expression,  our  train  moved 
slowly  on  to  the  station,  and  a  passenger  remarked, 
"  That  man  knows  his  business." 

But  the  passenger's  dissertation  upon  roping  I 
was  obliged  to  lose,  for  Medicine  Bow  was  my 
station.  I  bade  my  fellow-travellers  good-by,  and 
descended,  a  stranger,  into  the  great  cattle  land. 
And  here  in  less  than  ten  minutes  I  learned  news 
which  made  me  feel  a  stranger  indeed. 

My  baggage  was  lost ;  it  had  not  come  on  my 
train;  it  was  adrift  somewhere  back  in  the  two 


ENTER   THE   MAN  3 

thousand  miles  that  lay  behind  me.  And  by 
way  of  comfort,  the  baggage-man  remarked  that 
passengers  often  got  astray  from  their  trunks, 
but  the  trunks  mostly  found  them  after  a  while. 
Having  offered  me  this  encouragement,  he  turned 
whistling  to  his  affairs  and  left  me  planted  in  the 
baggage-room  at  Medicine  Bow.  I  stood  deserted 
among  crates  and  boxes,  blankly  holding  my 
check,  furious  and  forlorn.  I  stared  out  through 
the  door  at  the  sky  and  the  plains ;  but  I  did  not 
see  the  antelope  shining  among  the  sage-brush,  nor 
the  great  sunset  light  of  Wyoming.  Annoyance 
blinded  my  eyes  to  all  things  save  my  grievance : 
I  saw  only  a  lost  trunk.  And  I  was  muttering 
half-aloud,  "  What  a  forsaken  hole  this  is  !  "  when 
suddenly  from  outside  on  the  platform  came  a 
slow  voice :  — 

"  Off  to  get  married  again  ?     Oh,  don't !  " 

The  voice  was  Southern  and  gentle  and  drawl 
ing;  and  a  second  voice  came  in  immediate 
answer,  cracked  and  querulous :  — 

"  It  ain't  again.  Who  says  it's  again  ?  Who 
told  you,  anyway  ?  " 

And  the  first  voice  responded  caressingly :  — 

"  Why,  your  Sunday  clothes  told  me,  Uncle 
Hughey.  They  are  speakin'  mighty  loud  o'  nup 
tials." 

"You  don't  worry  me!"  snapped  Uncle  Hughey, 
with  shrill  heat. 

And  the  other  gently  continued,  "  Ain't  them 
gloves  the  same  yu'  wore  to  your  last  weddin'  ? " 

"  You  don't  worry  me  !  You  don't  worry  me  !  " 
now  screamed  Uncle  Hughey. 

Already  I  had  forgotten  my  trunk;  care  had 


4  THE   VIRGINIAN 

left  me ;  I  was  aware  of  the  sunset,  and  had  no 
desire  but  for  more  of  this  conversation.  For  it 
resembled  none  that  I  had  heard  in  my  life  so  far. 
I  stepped  to  the  door  and  looked  out  upon  the 
station  platform. 

Lounging  there  at  ease  against  the  wall  was  a 
slim  young  giant,  more  beautiful  than  pictures. 
His  broad,  soft  hat  was  pushed  back ;  a  loose- 
knotted,  dull-scarlet  handkerchief  sagged  from  his 
throat ;  and  one  casual  thumb  was  hooked  in  the 
cartridge-belt  that  slanted  across  his  hips.  He 
had  plainly  come  many  miles  from  somewhere 
across  the  vast  horizon,  as  the  dust  upon  him 
showed.  His  boots  were  white  with  it.  His  over 
alls  were  gray  with  it.  The  weather-beaten  bloom 
of  his  face  shone  through  it  duskily,  as  the  ripe 
peaches  look  upon  their  trees  in  a  dry  season.  But 
no  dinginess  of  travel  or  shabbiness  of  attire  could 
tarnish  the  splendor  that  radiated  from  his  youth 
and  strength.  The  old  man  upon  whose  temper 
his  remarks  were  doing  such  deadly  work  was 
combed  and  curried  to  a  finish,  a  bridegroom  swept 
and  garnished  ;  but  alas  for  age  !  Had  I  been  the 
bride,  I  should  have  taken  the  giant,  dust  and  all. 

He  had  by  no  means  done  with  the  old  man. 

"  Why,  yu've  hung  weddin'  gyarments  on  every 
limb  !  "  he  now  drawled,  with  admiration.  "  Who 
is  the  lucky  lady  this  trip  ?  " 

The  old  man  seemed  to  vibrate.  "Tell  you 
there  ain't  been  no  other !  Call  me  a  Mormon, 
would  you  ? " 

"Why,  that  —  " 

"  Call  me  a  Mormon  ?  Then  name  some  of  my 
wives.  Name  two.  Name  one.  Dare  you  ! " 


ENTER  THE   MAN  5 

"  —  that  Laramie  wido'  promised  you  —  " 

"  Shucks ! " 

"  —  only  her  docter  suddenly  ordered  Southern 
climate  and  —  " 

"  Shucks  !     You're  a  false  alarm." 

"  —  so  nothing  but  her  lungs  came  between 
you.  And  next  you'd  most  got  united  with  Cattle 
Kate,  only  —  " 

"  Tell  you  you're  a  false  alarm  !  " 

"  —  only  she  got  hung." 

"  Where's  the  wives  in  all  this  ?  Show  the 
wives  !  Come  now !  " 

"  That  corn-fed  biscuit-shooter  at  Rawlins  yu' 
gave  the  canary  —  " 

"  Never  married  her.     Never  did  marry  —  " 

"  But  yu'  come  so  near,  uncle !  She  was  the 
one  left  yu'  that  letter  explaining  how  she'd  got 
married  to  a  young  cyard-player  the  very  day  be 
fore  her  ceremony  with  you  was  due,  and  —  " 

"  Oh,  you're  nothing ;  you're  a  kid ;  you  don't 
amount  to  —  " 

"  —  and  how  she'd  never,  never  forgot  to  feed 
the  canary." 

"  This  country's  getting  full  of  kids,"  stated  the 
old  man,  witheringly.  "  It's  doomed."  This 
crushing  assertion  plainly  satisfied  him.  And  he 
blinked  his  eyes  with  renewed  anticipation.  His 
tall  tormentor  continued  with  a  face  of  unchang 
ing  gravity,  and  a  voice  of  gentle  solicitude:  — 

"  How  is  the  health  of  that  unfortunate  —  " 

"  That's  right !  Pour  your  insults  !  Pour  'em 
on  a  sick,  afflicted  woman ! "  The  eyes  blinked 
with  combative  relish. 

"  Insults  ?     Oh,  no,  Uncle  Hughey  !  " 


6  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  That's  all  right !     Insults  goes ! " 

"  Why,  I  was  mighty  relieved  when  she  began 
to  recover  her  mem'ry.  Las'  time  I  heard,  they 
told  me  she'd  got  it  pretty  near  all  back.  Re 
membered  her  father,  and  her  mother,  and  her 
sisters  and  brothers,  and  her  friends,  and  her 
happy  childhood,  and  all  her  doin's  except  only 
your  face.  The  boys  was  bettin'  she'd  get  that 
far  too,  give  her  time.  But  I  reckon  afteh  such  a 
turrable  sickness  as  she  had,  that  would  be  ex- 
pectin'  most  too  much." 

At  this  Uncle  Hughey  jerked  out  a  small  par 
cel.  "  Shows  how  much  you  know !  "  he  cackled. 
"  There  !  See  that !  That's  my  ring  she  sent  me 
back,  being  too  unstrung  for  marriage.  So  she 
don't  remember  me,  don't  she  ?  Ha-ha !  Always 
said  you  were  a  false  alarm." 

The  Southerner  put  more  anxiety  into  his  tone. 
"  And  so  you're  a-takin'  the  ring  right  on  to  the 
next  one !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Oh,  don't  go  to  get 
married  again,  Uncle  Hughey!  What's  the  use 
o'  being  married  ?  " 

"  What's  the  use  ?  "  echoed  the  bridegroom, 
with  scorn.  "  Hm !  When  you  grow  up  you'll 
think  different." 

"  Course  I  expect  to  think  different  when  my 
age  is  different.  I'm  havin'  the  thoughts  proper 
to  twenty-four,  and  you're  havin'  the  thoughts 
proper  to  sixty."  . 

"  Fifty !"  shrieked  Uncle  Hughey,  jumping  in 
the  air. 

The  Southerner  took  a  tone  of  self-reproach. 
"  Now,  how  could  I  forget  you  was  fifty,"  he  mur 
mured,  "  when  you  have  been  telling  it  to  the 
boys  so  careful  for  the  last  ten  years!" 


ENTER  THE   MAN  7 

Have  you  ever  seen  a  cockatoo  —  the  white 
kind  with  the  top-knot  —  enraged  by  insult?  The 
bird  erects  every  available  feather  upon  its  person. 
So  did  Uncle  Hughey  seem  to  swell,  clothes, 
mustache,  and  woolly  white  beard ;  and  without 
further  speech  he  took  himself  on  board  the  East- 
bound  train,  which  now  arrived  from  its  siding  in 
time  to  deliver  him. 

Yet  this  was  not  why  he  had  not  gone  away 
before.  At  any  time  he  could  have  escaped  into 
the  baggage-room  or  withdrawn  to  a  dignified 
distance  until  his  train  should  come  up.  But  the 
old  man  had  evidently  got  a  sort  of  joy  from  this 
teasing.  He  had  reached  that  inevitable  age  when 
we  are  tickled  to  be  linked  with  affairs  of  gal 
lantry,  no  matter  how. 

With  him  now  the  East-bound  departed  slowly 
into  that  distance  whence  I  had  come.  I  stared 
after  it  as  it  went  its  way  to  the  far  shores  of  civ 
ilization.  It  grew  small  in  the  unending  gulf  of 
space,  until  all  sign  of  its  presence  was  gone  save 
a  faint  skein  of  smoke  against  the  evening  sky. 
And  now  my  lost  trunk  came  back  into  my 
thoughts,  and  Medicine  Bow  seemed  a  lonely 
spot.  A  sort  of  ship  had  left  me  marooned  in 
a 'foreign  ocean;  the  Pullman  was  comfortably 
steaming  home  to  port,  while  I  —  how  was  I  to 
find  Judge  Henry's  ranch?  Where  in  this  un- 
featured  wilderness  was  Sunk  Creek  ?  No  creek 
or  any  water  at  all  flowed  here  that  I  could  per 
ceive.  My  host  had  written  he  should  meet  me 
at  the  station  and  drive  me  to  his  ranch.  This 
was  all  that  I  knew.  He  was  not  here.  The 
baggage-man  had  not  seen  him  lately.  The 


8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ranch  was  almost  certain  to  be  too  far  to  walk  to, 
to-night.  My  trunk  —  I  discovered  myself  still 
staring  dolefully  after  the  vanished  East-bound ; 
and  at  the  same  instant  I  became  aware  that  the 
tall  man  was  looking  gravely  at  me,  —  as  gravely 
as  he  had  looked  at  Uncle  Hughey  throughout 
their  remarkable  conversation. 

To  see  his  eye  thus  fixing  me  and  his  thumb 
still  hooked  in  his  cartridge-belt,  certain  tales  of 
travellers  from  these  parts  forced  themselves  dis- 
quietingly  into  my  recollection.  Now  that  Uncle 
Hughey  was  gone,  was  I  to  take  his  place  and  be, 
for  instance,  invited  to  dance  on  the  platform  to 
the  music  of  shots  nicely  aimed  ? 

"  I  reckon  I  am  looking  for  you,  seh,"  the  tall 
man  now  observed. 


II 

"WHEN    YOU    CALL    ME    THAT,    SMILE/" 

WE  cannot"  see  ourselves  as  other  see  us,  or  I 
should  know  what  appearance  I  cut  at  hearing 
this  from  the  tall  man.  I  said  nothing,  feeling 
uncertain. 

"  I  reckon  I  am  looking  for  you,  seh,"  he  re 
peated  politely. 

"  I  am  looking  for  Judge  Henry,"  I  now  replied. 

He  walked  toward  me,  and  I  saw  that  in  inches 
he  was  not  a  giant.  He  was  not  more  than  six 
feet.  It  was  Uncle  Hughey  that  had  made  him 
seem  to  tower.  But  in  his  eye,  in  his  face,  in  his 
step,  in  the  whole  man,  there  dominated  a  some 
thing  potent  to  be  felt,  I  should  think,  by  man  or 
woman. 

"  The  Judge  sent  me  afteh  you,  seh,"  he  now 
explained,  in  his  civil  Southern  voice ;  and  he 
handed  me  a  letter  from  my  host.  Had  I  not 
witnessed  his  facetious  performances  with  Uncle 
Hughey,  I  should  have  judged  him  wholly  un- 
gifted  with  such  powers.  There  was  nothing 
external  about  him  but  what  seemed  the  signs  of 
a  nature  as  grave  as  you  could  meet.  But  I  had 
witnessed ;  and  therefore  supposing  that  I  knew 
him  in  spite  of  his  appearance,  that  I  was,  so  to 
speak,  in  his  secret  and  could  give  him  a  sort  of 
wink,  I  adopted  at  once  a  method  of  easiness.  It 

9 


] 
io  THE  VIRGINIAN 


was  so  pleasant  to  be  easy  with  a  large  stranger, 
who  instead  of  shooting  at  your  heels  had  very 
civilly  handed  you  a  letter. 

"  You're  from  old  Virginia,  I  take  it?"  I  began. 

He  answered  slowly,  "  Then  you  have  taken  it 
correct,  seh." 

A  slight  chill  passed  over  my  easiness,  but  I 
went  cheerily  on  with  a  further  inquiry.  "  Find 
many  oddities  out  here  like  Uncle  Hughey?" 

"  Yes,  seh,  there  is  a  right  smart  of  oddities 
around.  They  come  in  on  every  train." 

At  this  point  I  dropped  my  method  of  easiness. 

"  I  wish  that  trunks  came  on  the  train,"  said  I. 
And  I  told  him  my  predicament. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  he  would  be 
greatly  moved  at  my  loss ;  but  he  took  it  with  no 
comment  whatever.  "  We'll  wait  in  town  for  it," 
said  he,  always  perfectly  civil. 

Now,  what  I  had  seen  of  "  town  "  was,  to  my 
newly  arrived  eyes,  altogether  horrible.  If  I  could 
possibly  sleep  at  the  Judge's  ranch,  I  preferred  to 
do  so. 

"  Is  it  too  far  to  drive  there  to-night  ?  "  I  in 
quired. 

He  looked  at  me  in  a  puzzled  manner. 

"For  this  valise,"  I  explained,  "contains  all  that 
I  immediately  need;  in  fact,  I  could  do  without 
my  trunk  for  a  day  or  two,  if  it  is  not  convenient 
to  send.  So  if  we  could  arrive  there  not  too  late 
by  starting  at  once  —  "  I  paused. 

"  It's  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  miles,"  said 
the  Virginian. 

To  my  loud  ejaculation  he  made  no  answer, 
but  surveyed  me  a  moment  longer,  and  then  said, 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME   THAT,  SMILE/"       n 

"Supper  will  be  about  ready  now."  He  took  my 
valise,  and  I  followed  his  steps  toward  the  eating- 
house  in  silence.  I  was  dazed. 

As  we  went,  I  read  my  host's  letter  —  a  brief, 
hospitable  message.  He  was  very  sorry  not  to 
meet  me  himself.  He  had  been  getting  ready  to 
drive  over,  when  the  surveyor  appeared  and  de 
tained  him.  Therefore  in  his  stead  he  was  send 
ing  a  trustworthy  man  to  town,  who  would  look 
after  me  and  drive  me  over.  They  were  looking 
forward  to  my  visit  with  much  pleasure.  This 
was  all. 

Yes,  I  was  dazed.  How  did  they  count  distance 
in  this  country?  You  spoke  in  a  neighborly  fashion 
about  driving  over  to  town,  and  it  meant —  I  did 
not  know  yet  how  many  days.  And  what  would 
be  meant  by  the  term  "  dropping  in,"  I  wondered. 
And  how  many  miles  would  be  considered  really 
far?  I  abstained  from  further  questioning  the 
"  trustworthy  man."  My  questions  had  not  fared 
excessively  well.  He  did  not  propose  making  me 
dance,  to  be  sure :  that  would  scarcely  be  trust 
worthy.  But  neither  did  he  propose  to  have  me 
familiar  with  him.  Why  was  this  ?  What  had  I 
done  to  elicit  that  veiled  and  skilful  sarcasm  about  ^ 
oddities  coming  in  on  every  train  ?  Having  been 
sent  to  look  after  me,  he  would  do  so,  would  even 
carry  my  valise ;  but  I  could  not  be  jocular  with 
him.  This  handsome,  ungrammatical  son  of  the  \ 
soil  had  set  between  us  the  bar  of  his  cold  and 
perfect  civility.  No  polished  person  could  have 
done  it  better.  What  was  the  matter  ?  I  looked 
at  him,  and  suddenly  it  came  to  me.  If  he  had 
tried  familiarity  with  me  the  first  two  minutes  of 


12  THE  VIRGINIAN 

our  acquaintance,  I  should  have  resented  it;  by 
what  right,  then,  had  I  tried  it  with  him?  It 
smacked  of  patronizing :  on  this  occasion  he  had 
come  off  the  better  gentleman  of  the  two.  Here 
*  in  flesh  and  blood  was  a  truth  which  I  had  long 
believed  in  words,  but  never  met  before.  The 
creature  we  call  a  gentleman  lies  deep  in  the 
hearts  of  thousands  that  are  born  without  chance 
to  master  the  outward  graces  of  the  type. 

Between  the  station  and  the  eating-house  I  did 
a  deal  of  straight  thinking.  But  my  thoughts 
were  destined  presently  to  be  drowned  in  amaze 
ment  at  the  rare  personage  into  whose  society 
fate  had  thrown  me. 

Town,  as  they  called  it,  pleased  me  the  less,  the 
longer  I  saw  it.  But  until  our  language  stretches 
itself  and  takes  in  a  new  word  of  closer  fit,  town 
will  have  to  do  for  the  name  of  such  a  place  as 
was  Medicine  Bow.  I  have  seen  and  slept  in 
many  like  it  since.  Scattered  wide,  they  littered 
the  frontier  from  the  Columbia  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  Sierras.  They  lay  stark, 
dotted  over  a  planet  of  treeless  dust,  like  soiled 
packs  of  cards.  Each  was  similar  to  the  next, 
as  one  old  five-spot  of  clubs  resembles  another. 
Houses,  empty  bottles,  and  garbage,  they  were 
forever  of  the  same  shapeless  pattern.  More  for 
lorn  they  were  than  stale  bones.  They  seemed 
to  have  been  strewn  there  by  the  wind  and  to  be 
waiting  till  the  wind  should  come  again  and  blow 
them  away.  Yet  serene  above  their  foulness  swam 
a  pure  and  quiet  light,  such  as  the  East  never 
sees ;  they  might  be  bathing  in  the  air  of  crea 
tion's  first  morning.  Beneath  sun  and  stars 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL  ME  THAT,  SMILE!"       13 

their  days  and  nights  were  immaculate  and 
wonderful. 

Medicine  Bow  was  my  first,  and  I  took  its 
dimensions,  twenty-nine  buildings  in  all,  —  one 
coal  shute,  one  water  tank,  the  station,  one  store, 
two  eating-houses,  one  billiard  hall,  two  tool- 
houses,  one  feed  stable,  and  twelve  others  that 
for  one  reason  and  another  I  shall  not  name. 
Yet  this  wretched  husk  of  squalor  spent  thought 
upon  appearances ;  many  houses  in  it  wore  a  false 
front  to  seem  as  if  they  were  two  stories  high. 
There  they  stood,  rearing  their  pitiful  masquerade 
amid  a  fringe  of  old  tin  cans,  while  at  their  very 
doors  began  a  world  of  crystal  light,  a  land  with 
out  end,  a  space  across  which  Noah  and  Adam 
might  come  straight  from  Genesis.  Into  that 
space  went  wandering  a  road,  over  a  hill  and 
down  out  of  sight,  and  up  again  smaller  in  the 
distance,  and  down  once  more,  and  up  once  more, 
straining  the  eyes,  and  so  away. 

Then  I  heard  a  fellow  greet  my  Virginian. 
He  came  rollicking  out  of  a  door,  and  made  a 
pass  with  his  hand  at  the  Virginian's  hat.  The 
Southerner  dodged  it,  and  I  saw  once  more  the 
tiger  undulation  of  body,  and  knew  my  escort  was 
he  of  the  rope  and  the  corral. 

"  How  are  yu',  Steve  ? "  he  said  to  the  rollick 
ing  man.  And  in  his  tone  I  heard  instantly  old 
friendship  speaking.  With  Steve  he  would  take 
and  give  familiarity. 

Steve  looked  at  me,  and  looked  away  —  and  that 
was  all.  But  it  was  enough.  In  no  company 
had  I  ever  felt  so  much  an  outsider.  Yet  I  liked 
the  company,  and  wished  that  it  would  like  me. 


i4  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Just  come  to  town  ?  "  inquired  Steve  of  the 
Virginian. 

"  Been  here  since  noon.  Been  waiting  for  the 
train." 

"  Going  out  to-night  ?  " 

"  I  reckon  I'll  pull  out  to-morroY 

"  Beds  are  all  took,"  said  Steve.  This  was  for 
my  benefit. 

"  Dear  rne !  "  said  I. 

"  But  I  guess  one  of  them  drummers  will  let  yu' 
double  up  with  him."  Steve  was  enjoying  him 
self,  I  think.  He  had  his  saddle  and  blankets, 
and  beds  were  nothing  to  him. 

"  Drummers,  are  they  ?  "  asked  the  Virginian. 

"  Two  Jews  handling  cigars,  one  American  with 
consumption  killer,  and  a  Dutchman  with  jew'lry." 

The  Virginian  set  down  my  valise,  and  seemed 
to  meditate.  "  I  did  want  a  bed  to-night,"  he  mur 
mured  gently. 

"  Well,"  Steve  suggested,  "  the  American  looks 
like  he  washed  the  oftenest." 

"  That's  of  no  consequence  to  me,"  observed  the 
Southerner. 

"  Guess  it'll  be  when  yu'  see  'em." 

"  Oh,  I'm  meaning  something  different.  I 
wanted  a  bed  to  myself." 

"  Then  you'll  have  to  build  one." 

"  Bet  yu'  I  have  the  Dutchman's." 

"  Take  a  man  that  won't  scare.  Bet  yu'  drinks 
yu'  can't  have  the  American's." 

"  Go  yu',"  said  the  Virginian.  "  I'll  have  his 
bed  without  any  fuss.  Drinks  for  the  crowd." 

"  I  suppose  you  have  me  beat,"  said  Steve,  grin 
ning  at  him  affectionately.  "  You're  such  a  son- 


"WHEN   YOU  CALL   ME   THAT,  SMILE!"       15 

of-a when  you  get  down  to  work.  Well, 

so-long !  I  got  to  fix  my  horse's  hoofs." 

I  had  expected  that  the  man  would  be  struck 
down.  He  had  used  to  the  Virginian  a  term  of 
heaviest  insult,  I  thought.  I  had  marvelled  to 
hear  it  come  so  unheralded  from  Steve's  friendly 
lips.  And  now  I  marvelled  still  more.  Evidently 
he  had  meant  no  harm  by  it,  and  evidently  no 
offence  had  been  taken.  Used  thus,  this  language 
was  plainly  complimentary.  ..  I  had  stepped  into 
a  world  new  to  me  indeed,  and  novelties  were 
occurring  with  scarce  any  time  to  get  breath  be 
tween  them.  As  to  where  I  should  sleep,  I  had 
forgotten  that  problem  altogether  in  my  curiosity. 
What  was  the  Virginian  going  to  do  now?  I 
began  to  know  that  the  quiet  of  this  man  was 
volcanic. 

"  Will  you  wash  first,  sir  ?  " 

We  were  at  the  door  of  the  eating-house,  and 
he  set  my  valise  inside.  In  my  tenderfoot  inno 
cence  I  was  looking  indoors  for  the  washing 
arrangements. 

"  It's  out  hyeh,  seh,"  he  informed  me  gravely, 
but  with  strong  Southern  accent.  Internal  mirth 
seemed  often  to  heighten  the  local  flavor  of  his 
speech.  There  were  other  times  when  it  had 
scarce  any  special  accent  or  fault  in  grammar. 

A  trough  was  to  my  right,  slippery  with  soapy 
water ;  and  hanging  from  a  roller  above  one  end 
of  it  was  a  rag  of  discouraging  appearance.  The 
Virginian  caught  it,  and  it  performed  one  whirling 
revolution  on  its  roller.  Not  a  dry  or  clean  inch 
could  be  found  on  it.  He  took  off  his  hat,  and 
put  his  head  in  the  door. 


1 6  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Your  towel,  ma'am,"  said  he,  "  has  been  too 
popular." 

She  came  out,  a  pretty  woman.  Her  eyes 
rested  upon  him  for  a  moment,  then  upon  me  with 
disfavor;  then  they  returned  to  his  black  hair. 

"  The  allowance  is  one  a  day,"  said  she,  very 
quietly.  "  But  when  folks  are  particular  —  "  She 
completed  her  sentence  by  removing  the  old  towel 
and  giving  a  clean  one  to  us. 

"  Thank  you,  ma'am,"  said  the  cow-puncher. 

She  looked  once  more  at  his  black  hair,  and 
without  any  word  returned  to  her  guests  at  supper. 

A  pail  stood  in  the  trough,  almost  empty ;  and 
this  he  filled  for  me  from  a  well.  There  was  some 
soap  sliding  at  large  in  the  trough,  but  I  got  my 
own.  And  then  in  a  tin  basin  I  removed  as 
many  of  the  stains  of  travel  as  I  was  able.  It 
was  not  much  of  a  toilet  that  I  made  in  this  first 
wash-trough  of  my  experience,  but  it  had  to  suffice, 
and  I  took  my  seat  at  supper. 

Canned  stuff  it  was,  —  corned  beef.  And  one 
of  my  table  companions  said  the  truth  about  it. 
"  When  I  slung  my  teeth  over  that,"  he  remarked, 
"  I  thought  I  was  chewing  a  hammock."  We  had 
strange  coffee,  and  condensed  milk;  and  I  have 
never  seen  more  flies.  I  made  no  attempt  to  talk, 
for  no  one  in  this  country  seemed  favorable  to 
me.  By  reason  of  something,  —  my  clothes,  my 
hat,  my  pronunciation,  whatever  it  might  be,  —  I 
possessed  the  secret  of  estranging  people  at  sight. 
Yet  I  was  doing  better  than  I  knew;  my  strict 
silence  and  attention  to  the  corned  beef  made  me 
in  the  eyes  of  the  cow-boys  at  table  compare  well 
with  the  over-talkative  commercial  travellers. 


"WHEN  YOU  CALL   ME  THAT,  SMILE.'"       17 

The  Virginian's  entrance  produced  a  slight 
silence.  He  had  done  wonders  with  the  wash- 
trough,  and  he  had  somehow  brushed  his  clothes. 
With  all  the  roughness  of  his  dress,  he  was  now 
the  neatest  of  us.  He  nodded  to  some  of  the 
other  cow-boys,  and  began  his  meal  in  quiet. 

But  silence  is  not  the  native  element  of  the 
drummer.  An  average  fish  can  go  a  longer  time 
out  of  water  than  this  breed  can  live  without  talk 
ing.  One  of  them  now  looked  across  the  table  at 
the  grave,  flannel-shirted  Virginian  ;  he  inspected, 
and  came  to  the  imprudent  conclusion  that  he 
understood  his  man. 

"  Good  evening,"  he  said  briskly. 

"  Good  evening,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  Just  come  to  town  ? "  pursued  the  drum 
mer. 

"Just  come  to  town,"  the  Virginian  suavely  as 
sented. 

"  Cattle  business  jumping  along?  "  inquired  the 
drummer. 

"  Oh,  fair."  And  the  Virginian  took  some  more 
corned  beef. 

"  Gets  a  move  on  your  appetite,  anyway,"  sug 
gested  the  drummer. 

The  Virginian  drank  some  coffee.  Presently 
the  pretty  woman  refilled  his  cup  without  his 
asking  her. 

"  Guess  I've  met  you  before,"  the  drummer 
stated  next. 

The  Virginian  glanced  at  him  for  a  brief  mo 
ment. 

"Haven't  I,  now?  Ain't  I  seen  you  some- 
wheres?  Look  at  me.  You  been  in  Chicago, 


1 8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ain't  you?  You  look  at  me  well.  Remember 
Ikey's,  don't  you  ? " 

"  I  don't  reckon  I  do." 

"See,  now!  I  knowed  you'd  been  in  Chicago. 
Four  or  five  years  ago.  Or  maybe  it's  two  years. 
Time's  nothing  to  me.  But  I  never  forget  a  face. 
Yes,  sir.  Him  and  me's  met  at  Ikey's,  all  right." 
This  important  point  the  drummer  stated  to  all  of 
us.  We  were  called  to  witness  how  well  he  had 
proved  old  acquaintanceship.  "  Ain't  the  world 
small,  though ! "  he  exclaimed  complacently. 
"  Meet  a  man  once  and  you're  sure  to  run  on  to 
him  again.  That's  straight.  That's  no  bar-room 
josh."  And  the  drummer's  eye  included  us  all  in 
his  confidence.  I  wondered  if  he  had  attained  that 
high  perfection  when  a  man  believes  his  own  lies. 

The  Virginian  did  not  seem  interested.  He 
placidly  attended  to  his  food,  while  our  landlady 
moved  between  dining  room  and  kitchen,  and  the 
drummer  expanded. 

"  Yes,  sir !  Ikey's  over  by  the  stock-yards, 
patronized  by  all  cattlemen  that  know  what's  what. 
That's  where.  Maybe  it's  three  years.  Time 
never  was  nothing  to  me.  But  faces  !  Why,  I 
can't  quit  'em.  Adults  or  children,  male  and 
female ;  onced  I  seen  'em  I  couldn't  lose  one  off 
my  memory,  not  if  you  were  to  pay  me  bounty, 
five  dollars  a  face,  r  White  men,  that  is.  Can't  do 
nothing  with  niggers  or  Chinese.  But  you're 
white,  all  right."  The  drummer  suddenly  returned 
to  the  Virginian  with  this  high  compliment.  The 
cow-puncher  had  taken  out  a  pipe,  and  was  slowly 
rubbing  it.  The  compliment  seemed  to  escape 
his  attention,  and  the  drummer  went  on. 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME  THAT,  SMILE!"       19 

"  I  can  tell  a  man  when  he's  white,  put  him 
at  Ikey's  or  out  loose  here  in  the  sage-brush." 
And  he  rolled  a  cigar  across  to  the  Virginian's 
plate. 

"  Selling  them  ?  "  inquired  the  Virginian. 

"  Solid  goods,  my  friend.  Havana  wrappers, 
the  biggest  tobacco  proposition  for  five  cents  got 
out  yet.  Take  it,  try  it,  light  it,  watch  it  burn. 
Here."  And  he  held  out  a  bunch  of  matches. 

The  Virginian  tossed  a  five-cent  piece  over  to 
him. 

"  Oh,  no,  my  friend  !  Not  from  you  !  Not  after 
Ikey's.  I  don't  forget  you.  See  ?  I  knowed  your 
face  right  away.  See  ?  That's  straight.  I  seen 
you  at  Chicago  all  right." 

"  Maybe  you  did,"  said  the  Virginian.  "  Some 
times  I'm  mighty  careless  what  I  look  at." 

"  Well,  py  damn ! "  now  exclaimed  the  Dutch 
drummer,  hilariously.  "  I  am  ploom  disappointed. 
I  vas  hoping  to  sell  him  somedings  myself." 

"  Not  the  same  here,"  stated  the  American. 
"  He's  too  healthy  for  me.  I  gave  him  up  on 
sight." 

Now  it  was  the  American  drummer  whose  bed 
the  Virginian  had  in  his  eye.  This  was  a  sensi 
ble  man,  and  had  talked  less  than  his  brothers  in 
the  trade.  I  had  little  doubt  who  would  end  by 
sleeping  in  his  bed ;  but  how  the  thing  would  be 
done  interested  me  more  deeply  than  ever. 

The  Virginian  looked  amiably  at  his  intended 
victim,  and  made  one  or  two  remarks  regarding 
patent  medicines.  There  must  be  a  good  deal 
of  money  in  them,  he  supposed,  with  a  live  man 
to  manage  them.  The  victim  was  flattered.  No 


20  THE  VIRGINIAN 

other  person  at  the  table  had  been  favored  with 
so  much  of  the  tall  cow-puncher's  notice.  He 
responded,  and  they  had  a  pleasant  talk.  I  did 
not  divine  that  the  Virginian's  genius  was  even 
then  at  work,  and  that  all  this  was  part  of  his 
satanic  strategy.  But  Steve  must  have  divined 
it.  For  while  a  few  of  us  still  sat  finishing  our 
supper,  that  facetious  horseman  returned  from 
doctoring  his  horse's  hoofs,  put  his  head  into  the 
dining  room,  took  in  the  way  in  which  the  Vir 
ginian  was  engaging  his  victim  in  conversation, 
remarked  aloud,  "  I've  lost !  "  and  closed  the  door 
again. 

"What's  he  lost?"  inquired  the  American 
drummer. 

"  Oh,  you  mustn't  mind  him,"  drawled  the  Vir 
ginian.  "  He's  one  of  those  box-head  jokers  goes 
around  openin'  and  shuttin'  doors  that-a-way. 
We  call  him  harmless.  Well,"  he  broke  off, '"I 
reckon  I'll  go  smoke.  Not  allowed  in  hyeh  ? '' 
This  last  he  addressed  to  the  landlady,  with  espe 
cial  gentleness.  She  shook  her  head,  and  her 
eyes  followed  him  as  he  went  out. 

Left  to  myself  I  meditated  for  some  time  upon 
my  lodging  for  the  night,  and  smoked  a  cigar  for 
consolation  as  I  walked  about.  It  was  not  a  hotel 
that  we  had  supped  in.  Hotel  at  Medicine  Bow 
there  appeared  to  be  none.  But  connected  with 
the  eating-house  was  that  place  where,  according 
to  Steve,  the  beds  were  all  taken,  and  there  I 
went  to  see  for  myself.  Steve  had  spoken  the 
truth.  It  was  a  single  apartment  containing 
four  or  five  beds,  and  nothing  else  whatever. 
And  when  I  looked  at  these  beds,  my  sorrow  that 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME   THAT,  SMILE!"       21 

I  could  sleep  in  none  of  them  grew  less.  To 
be  alone  in  one  offered  no  temptation,  and  as  for 
this  courtesy  of  the  country,  this  doubling  up  — ! 

"  Well,  they  have  got  ahead  of  us."  This  was 
the  Virginian  standing  at  my  elbow. 

I  assented. 

"  They  have  staked  out  their  claims,"  he  added. 

In  this  public  sleeping  room  they  had  done 
what  one  does  to  secure  a  seat  in  a  railroad  train. 
Upon  each  bed,  as  notice  of  occupancy,  lay  some 
article  of  travel  or  of  dress.  As  we  stood  there, 
the  two  Jews  came  in  and  opened  and  arranged 
their  valises,  and  folded  and  refolded  their  linen 
dusters.  Then  a  railroad  employee  entered  and 
began  to  go  to  bed  at  this  hour,  before  dusk  had 
wholly  darkened  into  night.  For  him,  going  to 
bed  meant  removing  his  boots  and  placing  his 
overalls  and  waistcoat  beneath  his  pillow.  He 
had  no  coat.  His  work  began  at  three  in  the 
morning ;  and  even  as  we  still  talked  he  began 
to  snore. 

"  The  man  that  keeps  the  store  is  a  friend  of 
mine,"  said  the  Virginian ;  "  and  you  can  be 
pretty  near  comfortable  on  his  counter.  Got  any 
blankets  ?  " 

I  had  no  blankets. 

"  Looking  for  a  bed  ?  "  inquired  the  American 
drummer,  now  arriving. 

"  Yes,  he's  looking  for  a  bed,"  answered  the 
voice  of  Steve  behind  him. 

"  Seems  a  waste  of  time,"  observed  the  Virgin 
ian.  He  looked  thoughtfully  from  one  bed  to 
another.  "  I  didn't  know  I'd  have  to  lay  over 
here.  Well,  I  have  sat  up  before." 


22  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  This  one's  mine,"  said  the  drummer,  sitting 
down  on  it.  "  Half's  plenty  enough  room  for  me." 

"You're  cert'nly  mighty  kind,"  said  the  cow- 
puncher.  "  But  I'd  not  think  o'  disconveniencing 
yu'." 

"  That's  nothing.  The  other  half  is  yours. 
Turn  in  right  now  if  you  feel  like  it." 

"  No.  I  don't  reckon  I'll  turn  in  right  now. 
Better  keep  your  bed  to  yourself." 

"  See  here,"  urged  the  drummer,  "  if  I  take  you 
I'm  safe  from  drawing  some  party  I  might  not 
care  so  much  about.  This  here  sleeping  proposi 
tion  is  a  lottery." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Virginian  (and  his  hesitation 
was  truly  masterly),  "  if  you  put  it  that  way  — " 

"  I  do  put  it  that  way.  Why,  you're  clean ! 
You've  had  a  shave  right  now.  You  turn  in 
when  you  feel  inclined,  old  man !  I  ain't  retiring 
just  yet." 

The  drummer  had  struck  a  slightly  false  note 
in  these  last  remarks.  He  should  not  have  said 
"old  man."  Until  this  I  had  thought  him  merely 
an  amiable  person  who  wished  to  do  a  favor. 
But  "  old  man  "  came  in  wrong.  It  had  a  hateful 
taint  of  his  profession ;  the  being  too  soon  with 
everybody,  the  celluloid  good-fellowship  that 
passes  for  ivory  with  nine  in  ten  of  the  city 
crowd.  But  not  so  with  the  sons  of  the  sage 
brush.  They  live  nearer  nature,  and  they  know 
better. 

But  the  Virginian  blandly  accepted  "  old  man  " 
from  his  victim :  he  had  a  game  to  play. 

"  Well,  I  cert'nly  thank  yu',"  he  said.  "  After  a 
while  I'll  take  advantage  of  your  kind  offer." 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME   THAT,  SMILE!"       23 

I  was  surprised.  Possession  being  nine  points 
of  the  law,  it  seemed  his  very  chance  to  intrench 
himself  in  the  bed.  But  the  cow-puncher  had 
planned  a  campaign  needing  no  intrenchments. 
Moreover,  going  to  bed  before  nine  o'clock  upon 
the  first  evening  in  many  weeks  that  a  town's  re 
sources  were  open  to  you,  would  be  a  dull  proceed 
ing.  Our  entire  company,  drummer  and  all,  now 
walked  over  to  the  store,  and  here  my  sleeping 
arrangements  were  made  easily.  This  store  was 
the  cleanest  place  and  the  best  in  Medicine  Bow, 
and  would  have  been  a  good  store  anywhere,  offer 
ing  a  multitude  of  things  for  sale,  and  kept  by  a 
very  civil  proprietor.  He  bade  me  make  myself 
at  home,  and  placed  both  of  his  counters  at  my 
disposal.  Upon  the  grocery  side  there  stood  a 
cheese  too  large  and  strong  to  sleep  near  com 
fortably,  and  I  therefore  chose  the  dry-goods  side. 
Here  thick  quilts  were  unrolled  for  me,  to  make  it 
soft ;  and  no  condition  was  placed  upon  me,  fur 
ther  than  that  I  should  remove  my  boots,  because 
the  quilts  were  new,  and  clean,  and  for  sale.  So 
now  my  rest  was  assured.  Not  an  anxiety  re 
mained  in  my  thoughts.  These  therefore  turned 
themselves  wholly  to  the  other  man's  bed,  and  how 
he  was  going  to  lose  it. 

I  think  that  Steve  was  more  curious  even  than 
myself.  Time  was  on  the  wing.  His  bet  must 
be  decided,  and  the  drinks  enjoyed.  He  stood 
against  the  grocery  counter,  contemplating  the 
Virginian.  But  it  was  to  me  that  he  spoke.  The 
Virginian,  however,  listened  to  every  word. 

"  Your  first  visit  to  this  country  ?  " 

I  told  him  yes. 


24  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  How  do  you  like  it  ?  " 

I  expected  to  like  it  very  much. 

"  How  does  the  climate  strike  you  ? " 

I  thought  the  climate  was  fine. 

"  Makes  a  man  thirsty  though." 

This  was  the  sub-current  which  the  Virginian 
plainly  looked  for.  But  he,  like  Steve,  addressed 
himself  to  me. 

"  Yes,"  he  put  in,  "  thirsty  while  a  man's  soft 
yet.  You'll  harden." 

"  I  guess  you'll  find  it  a  drier  country  than  you 
were  given  to  expect,"  said  Steve. 

"  If  your  habits  have  been  frequent  that  way," 
said  the  Virginian. 

"  There's  parts  of  Wyoming,"  pursued  Steve, 
"where  you'll  go  hours  and  hours  before  you'll 
see  a  drop  of  wetness." 

"  And  if  yu'  keep  a-thinkin'  about  it,"  said  the 
Virginian,  "  it'll  seem  like  days  and  days." 

Steve,  at  this  stroke,  gave  up,  and  clapped  him 
on  the  shoulder  with  a  joyous  chuckle.  "  You  old 
son-of-a !  "  he  cried  affectionately. 

"  Drinks  are  due  now,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  My  treat,  Steve.  But  I  reckon  your  suspense 
will  have  to  linger  a  while  yet." 

Thus  they  dropped  into  direct  talk  from  that 
speech  of  the  fourth  dimension  where  they  had 
been  using  me  for  their  telephone. 

"  Any  cyards  going  to-night  ? "  inquired  the 
Virginian. 

"  Stud  and  draw,"  Steve  told  him.  "  Strangers 
playing." 

"  I  think  I'd  like  to  get  into  a  game  for  a  while," 
said  the  Southerner.  "  Strangers,  yu'  say  ?  " 


\ 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME  THAT,  SMILE!"       25 

And  then,  before  quitting  the  store,  he  made 
his  toilet  for  this  little  hand  at  poker.  It  was  a 
simple  preparation.  He  took  his  pistol  from  its 
holster,  examined  it,  then  shoved  it  between  his 
overalls  and  his  shirt  in  front,  and  pulled  his 
waistcoat  over  it.  He  might  have  been  combing 
his  hair  for  all  the  attention  any  one  paid  to  this, 
except  myself.  Then  the  two  friends  went  out,  and 
I  bethought  me  of  that  epithet  which  Steve  again  j 
had  used  to  the  Virginian  as  he  clapped  him  on 
the  shoulder.  Clearly  this  wild  country  spoke 
a  language  other  than  mine  —  the  word  here 
was  a  term  of  endearment.  Such  was  my  con 
clusion. 

The  drummers  had  finished  their  dealings  with 
the  proprietor,  and  they  were  gossiping  together 
in  a  knot  by  the  door  as  the  Virginian  passed  out. 

"  See  you  later,  old  man  ! "  This  was  the 
American  drummer  accosting  his  prospective 
bed-fellow. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  returned  the  bed-fellow,  and  was 
gone. 

The  American  drummer  winked  triumphantly 
at  his  brethren.  "  He's  all  right,"  he  observed, 
jerking  a  thumb  after  the  Virginian.  "  He's  easy. 
You  got  to  know  him  to  work  him.  That's  all." 

"  Und  vat  is  your  point?  "  inquired  the  German 
drummer. 

"  Point  is  —  he'll  not  take  any  goods  off  you  or 
me ;  but  he's  going  to  talk  up  the  killer  to  any 
consumptive  he  runs  acrost.  I  ain't  done  with 
him  yet.  Say,"  (he  now  addressed  the  propri 
etor),  "  what's  her  name  ?  " 

"  Whose  name  ? " 


26  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Woman  runs  the  eating-house." 

"  Glen.     Mrs.  Glen." 

"  Ain't  she  new  ?  " 

"  Been  settled  here  about  a  month.  Husband's 
a  freight  conductor." 

"  Thought  I'd  not  seen  her  before.  She's  a 
good-looker." 

"Hm!  Yes.  The  kind  of  good  looks  I'd 
sooner  see  in  another  man's  wife  than  mine." 

"  So  that's  the  gait,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Hm !  well,  it  don't  seem  to  be.  She  come 
here  with  that  reputation.  But  there's  been  gen 
eral  disappointment." 

"  Then  she  ain't  lacked  suitors  any  ?  " 

"  Lacked!  Are  you  acquainted  with  cow-boys?" 

"  And  she  disappointed  'em  ?  Maybe  she  likes 
her  husband  ? " 

"  Hm !  well,  how  are  you  to  tell  about  them 
silent  kind?" 

"  Talking  of  conductors,"  began  the  drummer. 
And  we  listened  to  his  anecdote.  It  was  suc 
cessful  with  his  audience ;  but  when  he  launched 
fluently  upon  a  second  I  strolled  out.  There  was 
not  enough  wit  in  this  narrator  to  relieve  his 
indecency,  and  I  felt  shame  at  having  been  sur 
prised  into  laughing  with  him. 

I  left  that  company  growing  confidential  over 
their  leering  stories,  and  I  sought  the  saloon.  It 
was  very  quiet  and  orderly.  Beer  in  quart  bot 
tles  at  a  dollar  I  had  never  met  before ;  but  sav 
ing  its  price,  I  found  no  complaint  to  make  of  it. 
Through  folding  doors  I  passed  from  the  bar 
proper  with  its  bottles  and  elk  head  back  to  the 
hall  with  its  various  tables.  I  saw  a  man  sliding 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME   THAT,  SMILE!"       27 

cards  from  a  case,  and  across  the  table  from  him 
another  man  laying  counters  down.  Near  by  was 
a  second  dealer  pulling  cards  from  the  bottom  of 
a  pack,  and  opposite  him  a  solemn  old  rustic  pil 
ing  and  changing  coins  upon  the  cards  which  lay 
already  exposed. 

But  now  I  heard  a  voice  that  drew  my  eyes  to 
the  far  corner  of  the  room. 

"  Why  didn't  you  stay  in  Arizona  ?  " 

Harmless  looking  words  as  I  write  them  down 
here.  Yet  at  the  sound  of  them  I  noticed  the 
eyes  of  the  others  directed  to  that  corner.  What 
answer  was  given  to  them  I  did  not  hear,  nor  did 
I  see  who  spoke.  Then  came  another  remark. 

"  Well,  Arizona's  no  place  for  amatures." 

This  time  the  two  card  dealers  that  I  stood 
near  began  to  give  a  part  of  their  attention  to  the 
group  that  sat  in  the  corner.  There  was  in  me  a 
desire  to  leave  this  room.  So  far  my  hours  at 
Medicine  Bow  had  seemed  to  glide  beneath  a 
sunshine  of  merriment,  of  easy-going  jocularity. 
This  was  suddenly  gone,  like  the  wind  changing 
to  north  in  the  middle  of  a  warm  day.  But  I 
stayed,  being  ashamed  to  go. 

Five  or  six  players  sat  over  in  the  corner  at  a 
round  table  where  counters  were  piled.  Their 
eyes  were  close  upon  their  cards,  and  one  seemed 
to  be  dealing  a  card  at  a  time  to  each,  with 
pauses  and  betting  between.  Steve  was  there  and 
the  Virginian  ;  the  others  were  new  faces. 

"  No  place  for  amatures,"  repeated  the  voice ; 
and  now  I  saw  that  it  was  the  dealer's.  There 
was  in  his  countenance  the  same  ugliness  that  his 
words  conveyed. 


28  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Who's  that  talkirT  ?  "  said  one  of  the  men  near 
me,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  Trampas." 

"  What's  he  ? " 

"  Cow-puncher,  bronco-buster,  tin-horn,  most 
anything." 

"  Who's  he  talkin'  at  ?  " 

"  Think  it's  the  black-headed  guy  he's  talking 
at." 

"  That  ain't  supposed  to  be  safe,  is  it  ? " 

"  Guess  we're  all  goin'  to  find  out  in  a  few  min 
utes." 

"  Been  trouble  between  'em  ?  " 

"  They've  not  met  before.  Trampas  don't 
enjoy  losin'  to  a  stranger." 

"  Fello's  from  Arizona,  yu'  say  ?  " 

"  No.  Virginia.  He's  recently  back  from  havin' 
a  look  at  Arizona.  Went  down  there  last  year  for 
a  change.  Works  for  the  Sunk  Creek  outfit." 
And  then  the  dealer  lowered  his  voice  still  fur 
ther  and  said  something  in  the  other  man's  ear, 
causing  him  to  grin.  After  which  both  of  them 
looked  at  me. 

There  had  been  silence  over  in  the  corner ;  but 
now  the  man  Trampas  spoke  again. 

"  And  ten,"  said  he,  sliding  out  some  chips 
from  before  him.  Very  strange  it  was  to  hear 
him,  how  he  contrived  to  make  those  words  a 
personal  taunt.  The  Virginian  was  looking  at 
his  cards.  He  might  have  been  deaf. 

"  And  twenty,"  said  the  next  player,  easily. 

The  next  threw  his  cards  down. 

It  was  now  the  Virginian's  turn  to  bet,  or  leave 
the  game,  and  he  did  not  speak  at  once. 


When  you  call  me  that,  smile.'  " 


"WHEN   YOU   CALL   ME  THAT,  SMILE!"      29 

Therefore  Trampas  spoke.  "  Your  bet,  you  son- 
of-a ." 

The  Virginian's  pistol  came  out,  and  his  hand 
lay  on  the  table,  holding  it  unaimed.  And  with 
a  voice  as  gentle  as  ever,  the  voice  that  sounded 
almost  like  a  caress,  but  drawling  a  very  little 
more  than  usual,  so  that  there  was  almost  a  space 
between  each  word,  he  issued  his  orders  to  the 
man  Trampas :  — 

"  When  you  call  me  that,  smile"  And  he 
looked  at  Trampas  across  the  table. 

Yes,  the  voice  was  gentle.  But  in  my  ears"  it 
seemed  as  if  somewhere  the  bell  of  death  was 
ringing ;  and  silence,  like  a  stroke,  fell  on  the 
large  room.  All  men  present,  as  if  by  some  mag 
netic  current,  had  become  aware  of  this  crisis. 
In  my  ignorance,  and  the  total  stoppage  of  my 
thoughts,  I  stood  stock-still,  and  noticed  various 
people  crouching,  or  shifting  their  positions. 

"Sit  quiet,"  said  the  dealer,  scornfully  to  the 
man  near  me.  "Can't  you  see  he  don't  want  to 
push  trouble  ?  He  has  handed  Trampas  the 
choice  to  back  down  or  draw  his  steel." 

Then,  with  equal  suddenness  and  ease,  the 
room  came  out  of  its  strangeness.  Voices  and 
cards,  the  click  of  chips,  the  puff  of  tobacco, 
glasses  lifted  to  drink,  —  this  level  of  smooth 
relaxation  hinted  no  more  plainly  of  what  lay 
beneath  than  does  the  surface  tell  the  depth  of 
the  sea. 

For  Trampas  had  made  his  choice.  And  that 
choice  was  not  to  "  draw  his  steel."  If  it  was 
knowledge  that  he  sought,  he  had  found  it,  and 
no  mistake !  We  heard  no  further  reference  to 


30  THE    VIRGINIAN 

what  he  had  been  pleased  to  style  "amatures." 
In  no  company  would  the  black-headed  man  who 
had  visited  Arizona  be  rated  a  novice  at  the  cool 
art  of  self-preservation. 

One  doubt  remained :  what  kind  of  a  man  was 
Trampas  ?  A  public  back-down  is  an  unfinished 
thing, — for  some  natures  at  least.  I  looked  at 
his  face,  and  thought  it  sullen,  but  tricky  rather 
than  courageous. 

Something  had  been  added  to  my  knowledge 
also.  Once  again  I  had  heard  applied  to  the 
Virginian  that  epithet  which  Steve  so  freely  used. 
The  same  words,  identical  to  the  letter.  But  this 
time  they  had  produced  a  pistol.  "  When  you 
call  me  that,  smile  / "  Sol  perceived  a  new 
example  of  the  old  truth,  that  the  letter  means 
nothing  until  the  spirit  gives  it  life. 


Ill 

STEVE  TREATS 

IT  was  for  several  minutes,  I  suppose,  that  I 
stood  drawing  these  silent  morals.  No  man  oc 
cupied  himself  with  me.  Quiet  voices,  and  games 
of  chance,  and  glasses  lifted  to  drink,  continued 
to  be  the  peaceful  order  of  the  night.  And  into 
my  thoughts  broke  the  voice  of  that  card-dealer 
who  had  already  spoken  so  sagely.  He  also  took 
his  turn  at  moralizing. 

"What  did  I  tell  you?"  he  remarked  to  the 
man  for  whom  he  continued  to  deal,  and  who 
continued  to  lose  money  to  him. 

"Tell  me  when?" 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  he'd  not  shoot  ? "  the  dealer 
pursued  with  complacence.  "  You  got  ready  to 
dodge.  You  had  no  call  to  be  concerned.  He's 
not  the  kind  a  man  need  feel  anxious  about." 

The  player  looked  over  at  the  Virginian,  doubt 
fully.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  know  what  you 
folks  call  a  dangerous  man." 

"  Not  him ! "  exclaimed  the  dealer  with  admira 
tion.  "  He's  a  brave  man.  That's  different." 

The  player  seemed  to  follow  this  reasoning  no 
better  than  I  did. 

"  It's  not  a  brave  man  that's  dangerous,"  con 
tinued  the  dealer.  "  It's  the  cowards  that  scare 
me."  He  paused  that  this  might  sink  home. 

31 


32  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Fello'  came  in  here  las'  Toosday,"  he  went  on. 
"  He  got  into  some  misunderstanding  about  the 
drinks.  Well,  sir,  before  we  could  put  him  out 
of  business,  he'd  hurt  two  perfectly  innocent  on 
lookers.  They'd  no  more  to  do  with  it  than  you 
have,"  the  dealer  explained  to  me. 

"  Were  they  badly  hurt  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  One  of  'em  was.     He's  died  since." 
-    "  What  became  of  the  man  ?  " 

"  Why,  we  put  him  out  of  business,  I  told  you. 
He  died  that  night.  But  there  was  no  occasion 
for  any  of  it ;  and  that's  why  I  never  like  to  be 
around  where  there's  a  coward.  You  can't  tell. 
He'll  always  go  to  shooting  before  it's  necessary, 
and  there's  no  security  who  he'll  hit.  But  a  man 
like  that  black-headed  guy  is  (the  dealer  indicated 
the  Virginian)  need  never  worry  you.  And  there's 
another  point  why  there's  no  need  to  worry  about 
him:  it'll  be  too  late!" 

These  good  words  ended  the  moralizing  of  the 
dealer.  He  had  given  us  a  piece  of  his  mind. 
He  now  gave  the  whole  of  it  to  dealing  cards.  I 
loitered  here  and  there,  neither  welcome  nor  un 
welcome  at  present,  watching  the  cow-boys  at 
their  play.  Saving  Trampas,  there  was  scarce  a 
face  among  them  that  had  not  in  it  something 
very  likable.  Here  were  lusty  horsemen  ridden 
from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  wet  of  the  storm, 
to  divert  themselves  awhile.  Youth  untamed  sat 
here  for  an  idle  moment,  spending  easily  its  hard- 
earned  wages.  City  saloons  rose  into  my  vision, 
and  I  instantly  preferred  this  Rocky  Mountain 
place.  More  of  death  it  undoubtedly  saw,  but 
less  of  vice,  than  did  its  New  York  equivalents. 


STEVE  TREATS  33 

And  death  is  a  thing  much  cleaner  than  vice. 
Moreover,  it  was  by  no  means  vice  that  was 
written  upon  these  wild  and  manly  faces.  Even 
where  baseness  was  visible,  baseness  was  not  up 
permost.  Daring,  laughter,  endurance  —  these 
were  what  I  saw  upon  the  countenances  of  the 
cow-boys.  And  this  very  first  day  of  my  knowl 
edge  of  them  marks  a  date  with  me.  For  some 
thing  about  them,  and  the  idea  of  them,  smote  my 
American  heart,  and  I  have  never  forgotten  it, 
nor  ever  shall,  as  long  as  I  live.  In  their  flesh 
our  natural  passions  ran  tumultuous ;  but  often 
in  their  spirit  sat  hidden  a  true  nobility,  and 
often  beneath  its  unexpected  shining  their  figures 
took  on  heroic  stature. 

The  dealer  had  styled  the  Virginian  "  a  black- 
headed  guy."  This  did  well  enough  as  an  unflat- 
tered  portrait.  Judge  Henry's  trustworthy  man, 
with  whom  I  was  to  drive  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  miles,  certainly  had  a  very  black  head  of 
hair.  It  was  the  first  thing  to  notice  now,  if  one 
glanced  generally  at  the  table  where  he  sat  at 
cards.  But  the  eye  came  back  to  him  —  drawn 
by  that  inexpressible  something  which  had  led 
the  dealer  to  speak  so  much  at  length  about  him. 

Still,  "black-headed  guy"  justly  fits  him  and 
his  next  performance.  He  had  made  his  plan  for 
this  like  a  true  and  (I  must  say)  inspired  devil. 
And  now  the  highly  appreciative  town  of  Medi 
cine  Bow  was  to  be  treated  to  a  manifestation  of 
genius. 

He  sat  playing  his  stud-poker.  After  a  decent 
period  of  losing  and  winning,  which  gave  Trampas 
all  proper  time  for  a  change  of  luck  and  a  repair- 


34  THE  VIRGINIAN 

ing  of  his  fortunes,  he  looked  at  Steve  and  said 
amiably :  — 

"  How  does  bed  strike  you  ?  " 

I  was  beside  their  table,  learning  gradually  that 
stud-poker  has  in  it  more  of  what  I  will  call  red 
pepper  than  has  our  Eastern  game.  The  Virginian 
followed  his  own  question :  — 

"  Bed  strikes  me,"  he  stated. 

Steve  feigned  indifference.  He  was  far  more 
deeply  absorbed  in  his  bet  and  the  American 
drummer  than  he  was  in  this  game ;  but  he  chose 
to  take  out  a  fat,  florid  gold  watch,  consult  it 
elaborately,  and  remark,  "  It's  only  eleven." 

"Yu'  forget  I'm  from  the  country,"  said  the 
black-headed  guy.  "  The  chickens  have  been 
roostin'  a  right  smart  while." 

His  sunny  Southern  accent  was  again  strong. 
In  that  brief  passage  with  Trampas  it  had  been 
almost  wholly  absent.  But  different  moods  of  the 
spirit  bring  different  qualities  of  utterance — where 
a  man  comes  by  these  naturally.  The  Virginian 
cashed  in  his  checks. 

"  Awhile  ago,"  said  Steve,  "  you  had  won  three 
months'  salary." 

"  I'm  still  twenty  dollars  to  the  good,"  said  the 
Virginian.  "  That's  better  than  breaking  a  laig." 

Again,  in  some  voiceless,  masonic  way,  most 
people  in  that  saloon  had  become  aware  that 
something  was  in  process  of  happening.  Several 
left  their  games  and  came  to  the  front  by  the  bar. 

"  If  he  ain't  in  bed  yet — "  mused  the  Virginian. 

"  I'll  find  out,"  said  I.  And  I  hurried  across  to 
the  dim  sleeping  room,  happy  to  have  a  part  in 
this. 


STEVE  TREATS  35 

They  were  all  in  bed ;  and  in  some  beds  two 
were  sleeping.  How  they  could  do  it  —  but  in 
those  days  I  was  fastidious.  The  American  had 
come  in  recently  and  was  still  awake. 

"  Thought  you  were  to  sleep  at  the  store  ? "  said  he. 

So  then  I  invented  a  little  lie,  and  explained 
that  I  was  in  search  of  the  Virginian. 

"  Better  search  the  dives,"  said  he.  "  These  cow 
boys  don't  get  to  town  often." 

At  this  point  I  stumbled  sharply  over  some 
thing. 

"  It's  my  box  of  Consumption  Killer,"  explained 
the  drummer.  "  Well,  I  hope  that  man  will  stay 
out  all  night." 

"  Bed  narrow  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  For  two  it  is.  And  the  pillows  are  mean. 
Takes  both  before  you  feel  anything's  under  your 
head." 

He  yawned,  and  I  wished  him  pleasant  dreams. 

At  my  news  the  Virginian  left  the  bar  at  once, 
and  crossed  to  the  sleeping  room.  Steve  and  I 
followed  softly,  and  behind  us  several  more  strung 
out  in  an  expectant  line.  "  What  is  this  going  to 
be  ?  "  they  inquired  curiously  of  each  other.  And 
upon  learning  the  great  novelty  of  the  event,  they 
clustered  with  silence  intense  outside  the  door 
where  the  Virginian  had  gone  in. 

We  heard  the  voice  of  the  drummer,  cautioning 
his  bed-fellow.  "  Don't  trip  over  the  Killer,"  he 
was  saying.  "  The  Prince  of  Wales  barked  his 
shin  just  now."  It  seemed  my  English  clothes 
had  earned  me  this  title. 

The  boots  of  the  Virginian  were  next  heard  to 
drop. 


36  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  Can  yu'  make  out  what  he's  at  ? "  whispered 
Steve. 

He  was  plainly  undressing.  The  rip  of  swift 
unbuttoning  told  us  that  the  black-headed  guy 
must  now  be  removing  his  overalls. 

"  Why,  thank  yu',  no,"  he  was  replying  to  a 
question  of  the  drummer.  "  Outside  or  in's  all 
one  to  me." 

"  Then,  if  you'd  just  as  soon  take  the  wall  —  " 

"Why,  cert'nly."  There  was  a  sound  of  bed 
clothes,  and  creaking.  "  This  hyeh  pillo'  needs  a 
Southern  climate,"  was  the  Virginian's  next  obser 
vation. 

Many  listeners  had  now  gathered  at  the  door. 
The  dealer  and  the  player  were  both  here.  The 
storekeeper  was  present,  and  I  recognized  the 
agent  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  among 
the  crowd.  We  made  a  large  company,  and  I 
felt  that  trembling  sensation  which  is  common 
when  the  cap  of  a  camera  is  about  to  be  removed 
upon  a  group. 

"  I  should  think,"  said  the  drummer's  voice, 
"  that  you'd  feel  your  knife  and  gun  clean  through 
that  pillow." 

"  I  do,"  responded  the  Virginian. 

"  I  should  think  you'd  put  them  on  a  chair  and 
be  comfortable." 

"  I'd  be  uncomfortable,  then." 

"  Used  to  the  feel  of  them,  I  suppose  ? " 

"  That's  it.  Used  to  the  feel  of  them.  I  would 
miss  them,  and  that  would  make  me  wakeful." 

"  Well,  good  night." 

"  Good  night.  If  I  get  to  talkin'  and  tossin',  or 
what  not,  you'll  understand  you're  to  — " 


STEVE  TREATS  37 

"Yes,  I'll  wake  you." 

"  No,  don't  yu',  for  God's  sake !  " 

"Not?" 

"  Don't  yu'  touch  me." 

"  What'll  I  do  ?  " 

"  Roll  away  quick  to  your  side.  It  don't  last 
but  a  minute."  The  Virginian  spoke  with  a 
reassuring  drawl. 

Upon  this  there  fell  a  brief  silence,  and  I  heard 
the  drummer  clear  his  throat  once  or  twice. 

"  It's  merely  the  nightmare,  I  suppose  ?  "  he  said 
after  a  throat  clearing. 

"  Lord,  yes.  That's  all.  And  don't  happen 
twice  a  year.  Was  you  thinkin'  it  was  fits  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no !  I  just  wanted  to  know.  I've  been 
told  before  that  it  was  not  safe  for  a  person  to  be 
waked  suddenly  that  way  out  of  a  nightmare." 

"  Yes,  I  have  heard  that  too.  But  it  never 
harms  me  any.  I  didn't  want  you  to  run  risks." 

"  Me  ? " 

"  Oh,  it'll  be  all  right  now  that  yu'  know  how  it 
is."  The  Virginian's  drawl  was  full  of  assurance. 

There  was  a  second  pause,  after  which  the 
drummer  said :  — 

"  Tell  me  again  how  it  is." 

The  Virginian  answered  very  drowsily:  "Oh, 
just  don't  let  your  arm  or  your  laig  touch  me  if  I 
go  to  jumpin'  around.  I'm  dreamin'  of  Indians 
when  I  do  that.  And  if  anything  touches  me 
then,  I'm  liable  to  grab  my  knife  right  in  my 
sleep." 

"  Oh,  I  understand,"  said  the  drummer,  clearing 
his  throat.  "  Yes." 

Steve  was  whispering  delighted  oaths  to  him- 


38  THE   VIRGINIAN 

self,  and  in  his  joy  applying  to  the  Virginian  one 
unprintable  name  after  another. 

We  listened  again,  but  now  no  further  words 
came.  Listening  very  hard,  I  could  half  make 
out  the  progress  of  a  heavy  breathing,  and  a 
restless  turning  I  could  clearly  detect.  This  was 
the  wretched  drummer.  He  was  waiting.  But 
he  did  not  wait  long.  Again  there  was  a  light 
creak,  and  after  it  a  light  step.  He  was  not  even 
going  to  put  his  boots  on  in  the  fatal  neighbor 
hood  of  the  dreamer.  By  a  happy  thought  Medi 
cine  Bow  formed  into  two  lines,  making  an  avenue 
from  the  door.  And  then  the  commercial  traveller 
forgot  his  Consumption  Killer.  He  fell  heavily 
over  it. 

Immediately  from  the  bed  the  Virginian  gave 
forth  a  dreadful  howl. 

And  then  everything  happened  at  once;  and 
how  shall  mere  words  narrate  it  ?  The  door  burst 
open,  and  out  flew  the  commercial  traveller  in  his 
stockings.  One  hand  held  a  lump  of  coat  and 
trousers  with  suspenders  dangling,  his  boots  were 
clutched  in  the  other.  The  sight  of  us  stopped 
his  flight  short.  He  gazed,  the  boots  fell  from 
his  hand ;  and  at  his  profane  explosion,  Medicine 
Bow  set  up  a  united,  unearthly  noise  and  began 
to  play  Virginia  reel  with  him.  The  other  occu 
pants  of  the  beds  had  already  sprung  out  of  them, 
clothed  chiefly  with  their  pistols,  and  ready  for 
war. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  they  demanded.     "  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  reckon  it's  drinks  on  Steve,"  said  the 
Virginian  from  his  bed.  And  he  gave  the  first 
broad  grin  that  I  had  seen  from  him. 


STEVE   TREATS  39 

"  I'll  set  'em  up  all  night ! "  Steve  shouted,  as 
the  reel  went  on  regardless.  The  drummer  was 
bawling  to  be  allowed  to  put  at  least  his  boots  on. 
"  This  way,  Pard,"  was  the  answer ;  and  another 
man  whirled  him  round.  "  This  way,  Beau !  "  they 
called  to  him ;  "  This  way,  Budd !  "  and  he  was 
passed  like  a  shuttle-cock  down  the  line.  Sud 
denly  the  leaders  bounded  into  the  sleeping-room. 
"Feed  the  machine!"  they  said.  "Feed  her!" 
And  seizing  the  German  drummer  who  sold  jew 
ellery,  they  flung  him  into  the  trough  of  the  reel. 
I  saw  him  go  bouncing  like  an  ear  of  corn  to  be 
shelled,  and  the  dance  ingulfed  him.  I  saw  a 
Jew  sent  rattling  after  him ;  and  next  they  threw 
in  the  railroad  employee,  and  the  other  Jew;  and 
while  I  stood  mesmerized,  my  own  feet  left  the 
earth.  I  shot  from  the  room  and  sped  like  a  bob 
bing  cork  into  this  mill  race,  whirling  my  turn  in 
the  wake  of  the  others  amid  cries  of,  "  Here  comes 
the  Prince  of  Wales !  "  There  was  soon  not  much 
English  left  about  my  raiment. 

They  were  now  shouting  for  music.  Medicine 
Bow  swept  in  like  a  cloud  of  dust  to  where  a 
fiddler  sat  playing  in  a  hall ;  and  gathering  up 
fiddler  and  dancers,  swept  out  again,  a  larger 
Medicine  Bow,  growing  all  the  while.  Steve 
offered  us  the  freedom  of  the  house,  everywhere. 
He  implored  us  to  call  for  whatever  pleased  us, 
and  as  many  times  as  we  should  please.  He 
ordered  the  town  to  be  searched  for  more  citizens 
to  come  and  help  him  pay  his  bet.  But  changing 
his  mind,  kegs  and  bottles  were  now  carried  along 
with  us.  We  had  found  three  fiddlers,  and  these 
played  busily  for  us ;  and  thus  we  set  out  to  visit 


40  THE  VIRGINIAN 

all  cabins  and  houses  where  people  might  still  by 
some  miracle  be  asleep.  The  first  man  put  out 
his  head  to  decline.  But  such  a  possibility  had 
been  foreseen  by  the  proprietor  of  the  store.  This 
seemingly  respectable  man  now  came  dragging 
some  sort  of  apparatus  from  his  place,  helped  by 
the  Virginian.  The  cow-boys  cheered,  for  they 
knew  what  this  was.  The  man  in  his  window 
likewise  recognized  it,  and  uttering  a  groan,  came 
immediately  out  and  joined  us.  What  it  was,  I 
also  learned  in  a  few  minutes.  For  we  found  a 
house  where  the  people  made  no  sign  at  either 
our  fiddlers  or  our  knocking.  And  then  the  in 
fernal  machine  was  set  to  work.  Its  parts  seemed 
to  be  no  more  than  an  empty  keg  and  a  plank. 
Some  citizen  informed  me  that  I  should  soon 
have  a  new  idea  of  noise ;  and  I  nerved  myself 
for  something  severe  in  the  way  of  gunpowder. 
But  the  Virginian  and  the  proprietor  now  sat  on 
the  ground  holding  the  keg  braced,  and  two  others 
got  down  apparently  to  play  see-saw  over  the  top 
of  it  with  the  plank.  But  the  keg  and  plank  had 
been  rubbed  with  rosin,  and  they  drew  the  plank 
back  and  forth  over  the  keg.  Do  you  know  the 
sound  made  in  a  narrow  street  by  a  dray  loaded 
with  strips  of  iron  ?  That  noise  is  a  lullaby  com 
pared  with  the  staggering,  blinding  bellow  which 
rose  from  the  keg.  If  you  were  to  try  it  in  your 
native  town,  you  would  not  merely  be  arrested, 
you  would  be  hanged,  and  everybody  would  be 
glad,  and  the  clergyman  would  not  bury  you.  My 
head,  my  teeth,  the  whole  system  of  my  bones 
leaped  and  chattered  at  the  din,  and  out  of  the 
house  like  drops  squirted  from  a  lemon  came  a 


STEVE  TREATS  41 

man  and  his  wife.  No  time  was  given  them. 
They  were  swept  along  with  the  rest ;  and  having 
been  routed  from  their  own  bed,  they  now  became 
most  furious  in  assailing  the  remaining  homes 
of  Medicine  Bow.  Everybody  was  to  come  out. 
Many  were  now  riding  horses  at  top  speed  out  into 
the  plains  and  back,  while  the  procession  of  the 
plank  and  keg  continued  its  work,  and  the  fiddlers 
played  incessantly. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  quiet.  I  did  not  see  who 
brought  the  message  ;  but  the  word  ran  among  us 
that  there  was  a  woman  —  the  engineer's  woman 
down  by  the  water-tank  —  very  sick.  The  doctor 
had  been  to  see  her  from  Laramie.  Everybody 
liked  the  engineer.  Plank  and  keg  were  heard  no 
more.  The  horsemen  found  it  out  and  restrained 
their  gambols.  Medicine  Bow  went  gradually 
home.  I  saw  doors  shutting,  and  lights  go  out ; 
I  saw  a  late  few  reassemble  at  the  card  tables,  and 
the  drummers  gathered  themselves  together  for 
sleep ;  the  proprietor  of  the  store  (you  could  not 
see  a  more  respectable-looking  person)  hoped  that 
I  would  be  comfortable  on  the  quilts ;  and  I  heard 
Steve  urging  the  Virginian  to  take  one  more 
glass. 

"  We've  not  met  for  so  long,"  he  said. 

But  the  Virginian,  the  black-headed  guy 
who  had  set  all  this  nonsense  going,  said  No 
to  Steve.  "  I  have  got  to  stay  responsible," 
was  his  excuse  to  his  friend.  And  the  friend 
looked  at  me.  Therefore  I  surmised  that  the 
Judge's  trustworthy  man  found  me  an  embar 
rassment  to  his  holiday.  But  if  he  did,  he  never 
showed  it  to  me.  He  had  been  sent  to  meet  a 


42  THE  VIRGINIAN 

stranger  and  drive  him  to  Sunk  Creek  in  safety, 
and  this  charge  he  would  allow  no  temptation 
to  imperil.  He  nodded  good  night  to  me.  "  If 
there's  anything  I  can  do  for  yu',  you'll  tell  me." 

I  thanked  him.  "  What  a  pleasant  evening !  " 
I  added. 

"  I'm  glad  yu'  found  it  so." 

Again  his  manner  put  a  bar  to  my  approaches. 
Even  though  I  had  seen  him  wildly  disporting 
himself,  those  were  matters  which  he  chose  not 
to  discuss  with  me. 

Medicine  Bow  was  quiet  as  I  went  my  way  to 
my  quilts.  So  still,  that  through  the  air  the  deep 
whistles  of  the  freight  trains  came  from  below 
the  horizon  across  great  miles  of  silence.  I 
passed  cow-boys,  whom  half  an  hour  before 
I  had  seen  prancing  and  roaring,  now  rolled  in 
their  blankets  beneath  the  open  and  shining 
night. 

"  What  world  am  I  in  ?  "  I  said  aloud.  "  Does 
this  same  planet  hold  Fifth  Avenue  ?  " 

And  I  went  to  sleep,  pondering  over  my  native 
land. 


IV 

DEEP    INTO    CATTLE    LAND 

MORNING  had  been  for  some  while  astir  in 
Medicine  Bow  before  I  left  my  quilts.  The 
new  day  and  its  doings  began  around  me  in 
the  store,  chiefly  at  the  grocery  counter.  Dry- 
goods  were  not  in  great  request.  The  early 
rising  cow-boys  were  off  again  to  their  work; 
and  those  to  whom  their  night's  holiday  had 
left  any  dollars  were  spending  these  for  tobacco, 
or  cartridges,  or  canned  provisions  for  the  journey 
to  their  distant  camps.  Sardines  were  called  for, 
and  potted  chicken,  and  devilled  ham :  a  sophisti 
cated  nourishment,  at  first  sight,  for  these  sons  of  the 
sage-brush.  But  portable  ready-made  food  plays 
of  necessity  a  great  part  in  the  opening  of  a  new 
country.  These  picnic  pots  and  cans  were  the 
first  of  her  trophies  that  Civilization  dropped 
upon  Wyoming's  virgin  soil.  The  cow-boy  is 
now  gone  to  worlds  invisible ;  the  wind  has 
blown  away  the  white  ashes  of  his  camp-fires; 
but  the  empty  sardine  box  lies  rusting  over  the 
face  of  the  Western  earth. 

So  through  my  eyes  half  closed  I  watched  the 
sale  of  these  tins,  and  grew  familiar  with  the 
ham's  inevitable  trade-mark  —  that  label  with 
the  devil  and  his  horns  and  hoofs  and  tail  very 
pronounced,  all  colored  a  sultry  prodigious 
scarlet.  And  when  each  horseman  had  made 

43 


44  THE   VIRGINIAN 

his  purchase,  he  would  trail  his  spurs  over  the 
floor,  and  presently  the  sound  of  his  horse's 
hoofs  would  be  the  last  of  him.  Through  my 
dozing  attention  came  various  fragments  of  talk, 
and  sometimes  useful  bits  of  knowledge.  For 
instance,  I  learned  the  true  value  of  tomatoes 
in  this  country.  One  fellow  was  buying  two 
cans  of  them. 

"  Meadow  Creek  dry  already  ?  "  commented  the 
proprietor. 

"  Been  dry  ten  days,"  the  young  cow-boy 
informed  him.  And  it  appeared  that  along  the 
road  he  was  going,  water  would  not  be  reached 
much  before  sundown,  because  this  Meadow 
Creek  had  ceased  to  run.  His  tomatoes  were 
for  drink.  And  thus  they  have  refreshed  me 
many  times  since. 

"  No  beer  ?  "  suggested  the  proprietor. 

The  boy  made  a  shuddering  face.  "  Don't  say 
its  name  to  me ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  couldn't 
hold  my  breakfast  down."  He  rang  his  silver 
money  upon  the  counter.  "  I've  swore  off  for 
three  months,"  he  stated.  "  I'm  going  to  be  as 
pure  as  the  snow!"  And  away  he  went  jingling 
out  of  the  door,  to  ride  seventy-five  miles.  Three 
more  months  of  hard,  unsheltered  work,  and  he 
would  ride  into  town  again,  with  his  adolescent 
blood  crying  aloud  for  its  own. 

"  I'm  obliged,"  said  a  new  voice,  rousing  me 
from  a  new  doze.  "She's  easier  this  morning, 
since  the  medicine."  This  was  the  engineer, 
whose  sick  wife  had  brought  a  hush  over  Medi 
cine  Bow's  noting.  "  I'll  give  her  them  flowers 
soon  as  she  wakes,"  he  added. 


DEEP  INTO  CATTLE  LAND      45 

"  Flowers  ?  "  repeated  the  proprietor. 

"  You  didn't  leave  that  bunch  at  our  door  ?  " 

"Wish  I'd  thought  to  do  it." 

"She  likes  to  see  flowers,"  said  the  engineer. 
And  he  walked  out  slowly,  with  his  thanks  un 
achieved.  He  returned  at  once  with  the  Vir 
ginian  ;  for  in  the  band  of  the  Virginian's  hat 
were  two  or  three  blossoms. 

"  It  don't  need  mentioning,"  the  Southerner 
was  saying,  embarrassed  by  any  expression  of 
thanks.  "  If  we  had  knowed  last  night  —  " 

"  You  didn't  disturb  her  any,"  broke  in  the 
engineer.  "  She's  easier  this  morning.  I'll  tell 
her  about  them  flowers." 

"  Why,  it  don't  need  mentioning,"  the  Virginian 
again  protested,  almost  crossly.  "  The  little  things 
looked  kind  o'  fresh,  and  I  just  picked  them." 
His  eye  now  fell  upon  me,  where  I  lay  upon  the 
counter.  "  I  reckon  breakfast  will  be  getting 
through,"  he  remarked.  , 

I  was  soon  at  the  wash  trough.  It  was  only 
half-past  six,  but  many  had  been  before  me,  —  one 
glance  at  the  roller-towel  told  me  that.  I  was 
afraid  to  ask  the  landlady  for  a  clean  one,  and  so 
I  found  a  fresh  handkerchief,  and  accomplished  a 
sparing  toilet.  In  the  midst  of  this  the  drummers 
joined  me,  one  by  one,  and  they  used  the  degraded 
towel  without  hesitation.  In  a  way  they  had  the 
best  of  me ;  filth  was  nothing  to  them. 

The  latest  risers  in  Medicine  Bow,  we  sat  at 
breakfast  together ;  and  they  essayed  some  light 
familiarities  with  the  landlady.  But  these  experi 
ments  were  failures.  Her  eyes  did  not  see, 
nor  did  her  ears  hear  them.  She  brought  the 


46  THE   VIRGINIAN 

coffee  and  the  bacon  with  a  sedateness  that  pro 
priety  itself  could  scarce  have  surpassed.  Yet 
impropriety  lurked  noiselessly  all  over  her.  You 
could  not  have  specified  how ;  it  was  interblended 
with  her  sum  total.  Silence  was  her  apparent 
habit  and  her  weapon;  but  the  American  drummer 
found  that  she  could  speak  to  the  point  when  need 
came  for  this.  During  the  meal  he  had  praised 
her  golden  hair.  It  was  golden  indeed,  and  worth 
a  high  compliment ;  but  his  kind  displeased  her. 
She  had  let  it  pass,  however,  with  no  more  than 
a  cool  stare.  But  on  taking  his  leave,  when  he 
came  to  pay  for  the  meal,  he  pushed  it  too  far. 

"  Pity  this  must  be  our  last,"  he  said ;  and  as  it 
brought  no  answer,  "  Ever  travel  ?  "  he  inquired. 
"  Where  I  go,  there's  room  for  a  pair  of  us." 

"  Then  you'd  better  find  another  jackass,"  she 
replied  quietly. 

I  was  glad  that  I  had  not  asked  for  a  clean 
towel.  , 

From  the  commercial  travellers  I  now  separated 
myself,  and  wandered  alone  in  pleasurable  aim- 
lessness.  It  was  seven  o'clock.  Medicine  Bow 
stood  voiceless  and  unpeopled.  The  cow-boys 
had  melted  away.  The  inhabitants  were  indoors, 
pursuing  the  business  or  the  idleness  of  the  fore 
noon.  Visible  motion  there  was  none.  No  shell 
upon  the  dry  sands  could  lie  more  lifeless  than 
Medicine  Bow.  Looking  in  at  the  store,  I  saw 
the  proprietor  sitting  with  his  pipe  extinct. 
Looking  in  at  the  saloon,  I  saw  the  dealer  deal 
ing  dumbly  to  himself.  Up  in  the  sky  there  was 
not  a  cloud  nor  a  bird,  and  on  the  earth  the  light 
est  straw  lay  becalmed.  Once  I  saw  the  Vir- 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  47 

ginian  at  an  open  door,  where  the  golden-haired 
landlady  stood  talking  with  him.  Sometimes  I 
strolled  in  the  town,  and  sometimes  out  on  the 
plain  I  lay  down  with  my  day  dreams  in  the  sage 
brush.  Pale  herds  of  antelope  were  in  the  dis 
tance,  and  near  by  the  demure  prairie-dogs  sat  up 
and  scrutinized  me.  Steve,  Trampas,  the  riot  of 
horsemen,  my  lost  trunk,  Uncle  Hughey,  with  his 
abortive  brides — all  things  merged  in  my  thoughts 
in  a  huge,  delicious  indifference.  It  was  like 
swimming  slowly  at  random  in  an  ocean  that  was 
smooth,  and  neither  too  cool  nor  too  warm.  And 
before  I  knew  it,  five  lazy  imperceptible  hours  had 
gone  thus.  There  was  the  Union  Pacific  train, 
coming  as  if  from  shores  forgotten. 

Its  approach  was  silent  and  long  drawn  out.  I 
easily  reached  town  and  the  platform  before  it  had 
finished  watering  at  the  tank.  It  moved  up,  made 
a  short  halt,  I  saw  my  trunk  come  out  of  it,  and 
then  it  moved  away  silently  as  it  had  come,  smok 
ing  and  dwindling  into  distance  unknown. 

Beside  my  trunk  was  one  other,  tied  extrava 
gantly  with  white  ribbon.  The  fluttering  bows 
caught  my  attention,  and  now  I  suddenly  saw  a 
perfectly  new  sight.  The  Virginian  was  further 
down  the  platform,  doubled  up  with  laughing.  It 
was  good  to  know  that  with  sufficient  cause  he 
could  laugh  like  this ;  a  smile  had  thus  far  been 
his  limit  of  external  mirth.  Rice  now  flew  against 
my  hat,  and  hissing  gusts  of  rice  spouted  on  the 
platform.  All  the  men  left  in  Medicine  Bow 
appeared  like  magic,  and  more  rice  choked  the 
atmosphere.  Through  the  general  clamor  a 
cracked  voice  said,  "  Don't  hit  her  in  the  eye, 


4S  THE  VIRGINIAN 

boys !  "  and  Uncle  Hughey  rushed  proudly  by  me 
with  an  actual  wife  on  his  arm.  She  could  easily 
have  been  his  granddaughter.  They  got  at  once 
into  a  vehicle.  The  trunk  was  lifted  in  behind. 
And  amid  cheers,  rice,  shoes,  and  broad  felicita 
tions,  the  pair  drove  out  of  town,  Uncle  Hughey 
shrieking  to  the  horses  and  the  bride  waving  un 
abashed  adieus. 

The  word  had  come  over  the  wires  from 
Laramie:  "  Uncle  Hughey  has  made  it  this  time. 
Expect  him  on  to-day's  number  two."  And 
Medicine  Bow  had  expected  him. 

Many  words  arose  on  the  departure  of  the  new- 
married  couple. 

"  Who's  she  ?  " 

"  What's  he  got  for  her  ?  " 

"  Got  a  gold  mine  up  Bear  Creek." 

And  after  comment  and  prophecy,  Medicine 
Bow  returned  to  its  dinner. 

This  meal  was  my  last  here  for  a  long  while. 
The  Virginian's  responsibility  now  returned ; 
duty  drove  the  Judge's  trustworthy  man  to  take 
care  of  me  again.  He  had  not  once  sought  my 
society  of  his  own  accord;  his  distaste  for  what 
he  supposed  me  to  be  (I  don't  exactly  know  what 
this  was)  remained  unshaken.  I  have  thought 
that  matters  of  dress  and  speech  should  not  carry 
with  them  so  much  mistrust  in  our  democracy; 
thieves  are  presumed  innocent  until  proved  guilty, 
but  a  starched  collar  is  condemned  at  once.  Per 
fect  civility  and  obligingness  I  certainly  did 
receive  from  the  Virginian,  only  not  a  word  of 
fellowship.  He  harnessed  the  horses,  got  my 
trunk,  and  gave  me  some  advice  about  taking 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  49 

provisions  for  our  journey,  something  more  pala 
table  than  what  food  we  should  find  along  the 
road.  It  was  well  thought  of,  and  I  bought  quite 
a  parcel  of  dainties,  feeling  that  he  would  despise 
both  them  and  me.  And  thus  I  took  my  seat 
beside  him,  wondering  what  we  should  manage  to 
_Jalk  about  for  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  miles. 
Farewell  in  those  days  was  not  said  in  Cattle 
Land.  Acquaintances  watched  our  departure 
with  a  nod  or  with  nothing,  and  the  nearest 
approach  to  "  Good-by "  was  the  proprietor's 
"  So-long."  !  But  I  caught  sight  of  one  farewell 
given  without  words. 

As  we  drove  by  the  eating-house,  the  shade  of 
a  side  window  was  raised,  and  the  landlady  looked 
her  last  upon  the  Virginian.  Her  lips  were 
faintly  parted,  and  no  woman's  eyes  ever  said 
more  plainly,  "  I  am  one  of  your  possessions." 
She  had  forgotten  that  it  might  be  seen.  Her 
glance  caught  mine,  and  she  backed  into  the  dim 
ness  of  the  room.  What  look  she  may  have 
received  from  him,  if  he  gave  her  any  at  this  too 
public  moment,  I  could  not  tell.  His  eyes  seemed 
to  be  upon  the  horses,  and  he  drove  with  the  same 
mastering  ease  that  had  roped  the  wild  pony 
yesterday.  /We  passed  the  ramparts  of  Medicine 
Bow,  —  thick  heaps  and  fringes  of  tin  cans,  and 
shelving  mounds  of  bottles  cast  out  of  the  saloons. 
The  sun  struck  these  at  a  hundred  glittering  points.' 
And  in  a  moment  we  were  in  the  clean  plains, 
with  the  prairie-dogs  and  the  pale  herds  of  ante 
lope.  The  great,  still  air  bathed  us,  pure  as  water 
and  strong  as  wine ;  the  sunlight  flooded  the 
world;  and  shining  upon  the  breast  of  the  Vir-~ 


5o  THE  VIRGINIAN 

ginian's  flannel  shirt  lay  a  long  gold  thread  of 
hair!  The  noisy  American  drummer  had  met 
defeat,  but  this  silent  free  lance  had  been  easily 
victorious. 

It  must  have  been  five  miles  that  we  travelled 
in  silence,  losing  and  seeing  the  horizon  among 
the  ceaseless  waves  of  the  earth.  Then  I  looked 
back,  and  there  was  Medicine  Bow,  seemingly  a 
stone's  throw  behind  us.  It  was  a  full  half-hour 
before  I  looked  back  again,  and  there  sure  enough 
was  always  Medicine  Bow.  A  size  or  two 
smaller,  I  will  admit,  but  visible  in  every  feature, 
like  something  seen  through  the  wrong  end  of  a 
field  glass.  The  East-bound  express  was  approach 
ing  the  town,  and  I  noticed  the  white  steam  from 
its  whistle ;  but  when  the  sound  reached  us,  the 
train  had  almost  stopped.  And  in  reply  to  my 
comment  upon  this,  the  Virginian  deigned  to  re 
mark  that  it  was  more  so  in  Arizona. 

"  A  man  come  to  Arizona,"  he  said,  "  with  one 
of  them  telescopes  to  study  the  heavenly  bodies. 
He  was  a  Yankee,  seh,  and  a  right  smart  one, 
too.  And  one  night  we  was  watchin'  for  some 
little  old  fallin'  stars  that  he  said  was  due,  and  I 
saw  some  lights  movin'  along  acrost  the  mesa 
pretty  lively,  an'  I  sang  out.  But  he  told  me  it 
was  just  the  train.  And  I  told  him  I  didn't 
know  yu'  could  see  the  cyars  that  plain  from  his 
place.  '  Yu  '  can  see  them,'  he  said  to  me,  '  but 
it  is  las'  night's  cyars  you're  lookin'  at.' "  At  this 
point  the  Virginian  spoke  severely  to  one  of  the 
horses.  "  Of  course,"  he  then  resumed  to  me, 
"that  Yankee  man  did  not  mean  quite  all  he 
said.  —  You,  Buck!"  he  again  broke  off  suddenly 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  51 

to  the  horse.  "  But  Arizona,  seh,"  he  continued, 
"  cert'nly  has  a  mos'  deceivin'  atmospheah.  An 
other  man  told  me  he  had  seen  a  lady  close  one 
eye  at  him  when  he  was  two  minutes  hard  run 
from  her."  This  time  the  Virginian  gave  Buck 
the  whip. 

"  What  effect,"  I  inquired  with  a  gravity  equal 
to  his  own,  "  does  this  extraordinary  foreshorten 
ing  have  upon  a  quart  of  whiskey  ? " 

"  When  it's  outside  yu',  seh,  no  distance  looks 
too  far  to  go  to  it." 

He  glanced  at  me  with  an  eye  that  held  more 
confidence  than  hitherto  he  had  been  able  to  feel 
in  me.  I  had  made  one  step  in  his  approval. 
But  I  had  many  yet  to  go.  This  day  he  pre 
ferred  his  own  thoughts  to  my  conversation,  and 
so  he  did  all  the  days  of  this  first  journey ;  while 
I  should  have  greatly  preferred  his  conversation 
to  my  thoughts,  He  dismissed  some  attempts 
that  I  made  upon  the  subject  of  Uncle  Hughey; 
so  that  I  had  not  the  courage  to  touch  upon 
Trampas,  and  that  chill  brief  collision  which 
might  have  struck  the  spark  of  death.  Trampas ! 
I  had  forgotten  him  till  this  silent  drive  I  was 
beginning.  I  wondered  if  I  should  ever  see  him, 
or  Steve,  or  any  of  those  people  again.  And  this 
wonder  I  expressed  aloud. 

"There's  no  tellin'  in  this  country,"  said  the 
Virginian.  "  Folks  come  easy,  and  they  go  easy. 
In  settled  places,  like  back  in  the  States,  even  a 
poor  man  mostly  has  a  home.  Don't  care  if  it's 
only  a  barrel  on  a  lot,  the  fello'  will  keep  fre- 
quentin'  that  lot,  and  if  yu'  want  him  yu'  can 
find  him.  But  out  hyeh  in  the  sage-brush,  a 


52  THE   VIRGINIAN 

man's  home  is  apt  to  be  his  saddle  blanket. 
First  thing  yu'  know,  he  has  moved  it  to  Texas." 

"  You  have  done  some  moving  yourself,"  I  sug 
gested. 

But  this  word  closed  his  mouth.  "  I  have  had 
a  look  at  the  country,"  he  said,  and  we  were 
silent  again.  Let  me,  however,  tell  you  here 
that  he  had  set  out  for  a  "  look  at  the  country  " 
at  the  age  of  fourteen ;  and  that  by  his  present 
age  of  twenty-four  he  had  seen  Arkansas,  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  California,  Oregon,  Idaho, 
Montana,  and  Wyoming.  Everywhere  he  had 
taken  care  of  himself,  and  survived ;  nor  had  his 
strong  heart  yet  waked  up  to  any  hunger  for  a 
home.  Let  me  also  tell  you  that  he  was  one  of 
thousands  drifting  and  living  thus,  but  (as  you 
shall  learn)  one  in  a  thousand. 

Medicine  Bow  did  not  forever  remain  in  sight. 
When  next  I  thought  of  it  and  looked  behind, 
nothing  was  there  but  the  road  we  had  come ;  it 
lay  like  a  ship's  wake  across  the  huge  ground 
swell  of  the  earth.  We  were  swallowed  in  a  vast 
solitude.  A  little  while  before  sunset,  a  cabin 
came  in  view;  and  here  we  passed  our  first  night. 
Two  young  men  lived  here,  tending  their  cattle. 
They  were  fond  of  animals.  By  the  stable  a  chained 
coyote  rushed  nervously  in  a  circle,  or  sat  on  its 
haunches  and  snapped  at  gifts  of  food  ungraciously. 
A  tame  young  elk  walked  in  and  out  of  the  cabin 
door,  and  during  supper  it  tried  to  push  me  off 
my  chair.  A  half-tame  mountain  sheep  practised 
jumping  from  the  ground  to  the  roof.  The  cabin 
was  papered  with  posters  of  a  circus,  and  skins  of 
bear  and  silver  fox  lay  upon  the  floor.  Until  nine 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  53 

o'clock  one  man  talked  to  the  Virginian,  and  one 
played  gayly  upon  a  concertina ;  and  then  we  all 
went  to  bed.  The  air  was  like  December,  but  in 
my  blankets  and  a  buffalo  robe  I  kept  warm,  and 
luxuriated  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  silence.  Go 
ing  to  wash  before  breakfast  at  sunrise,  I  found 
needles  of  ice  in  a  pail.  Yet  it  was  hard  to  re 
member  that  this  quiet,  open,  splendid  wilderness 
(with  not  a  peak  in  sight  just  here)  was  six  thou 
sand  feet  high.  And  when  breakfast  was  over  there 
was  no  December  left ;  and  by  the  time  the  Vir 
ginian  and  I  were  ten  miles  upon  our  way-,  it  was 
June.  But  always  every  breath  that  I  breathed 
was  pure  as  water  and  strong  as  wine. 

We  never  passed  a  human  being  this  day. 
Some  wild  cattle  rushed  up  to  us  and  away  from 
us ;  antelope  stared  at  us  from  a  hundred  yards ; 
coyotes  ran  skulking  through  the  sage-brush  to 
watch  us  from  a  hill ;  at  our  noon  meal  we  killed 
a  rattlesnake  and  shot  some  young  sage  chickens, 
which  were  good  at  supper,  roasted  at  our  campfire. 

By  half-past  eight  we  were  asleep  beneath  the 
stars,  and  by  half-past  four  I  was  drinking  coffee 
and  shivering.  The  horse,  Buck,  was  hard  to 
catch  this  second  morning.  Whether  some  hills 
that  we  were  now  in  had  excited  him,  or  whether 
the  better  water  up  here  had  caused  an  effer 
vescence  in  his  spirits,  I  cannot  say.  But  I  was 
as  hot  as  July  by  the  time  we  had  him  safe 
in  harness,  or,  rather,  unsafe  in  harness.  For 
Buck,  in  the  mysterious  language  of  horses,  now 
taught  wickedness  to  his  side  partner,  and  about 
eleven  o'clock  they  laid  their  evil  heads  together 
and  decided  to  break  our  necks. 


54  THE  VIRGINIAN 

We  were  passing,  I  have  said,  through  a  range 
of  demi-mountains.  It  was  a  little  country  where 
trees  grew,  water  ran,  and  the  plains  were  shut 
out  for  a  while.  The  road  had  steep  places  in  it, 
and  places  here  and  there  where  you  could  fall 
off  and  go  bounding  to  the  bottom  among  stones. 
But  Buck,  for  some  reason,  did  not  think  these 
opportunities  good  enough  for  him.  He  selected 
a  more  theatrical  moment.  We  emerged  from  a 
narrow  canon  suddenly  upon  five  hundred  cattle 
and  some  cow-boys  branding  calves  by  a  fire  in  a 
corral.  It  was  a  sight  that  Buck  knew  by  heart. 
He  instantly  treated  it  like  an  appalling  phe 
nomenon.  I  saw  him  kick  seven  ways;  I  saw 
Muggins  kick  five  ways;  our  furious  motion 
snapped  my  spine  like  a  whip.  I  grasped  the 
seat.  Something  gave  a  forlorn  jingle.  It  was 
the  brake. 

"  Don't  jump ! "  commanded  the  trustworthy 
man. 

"  No,"  I  said,  as  my  hat  flew  off. 

Help  was  too  far  away  to  do  anything  for  us. 
We  passed  scathless  through  a  part  of  the  cattle ; 
I  saw  their  horns  and  backs  go  by.  Some  earth 
crumbled,  and  we  plunged  downward  into  water, 
rocking  among  stones,  and  upward  again  through 
some  more  crumbling  earth.  I  heard  a  crash,  and 
saw  my  trunk  landing  in  the  stream. 

"  She's  safer  there,"  said  the  trustworthy  man. 

"  True,"  I  said. 

"  We'll  go  back  for  her,"  said  he,  with  his  eye 
on  the  horses  and  his  foot  on  the  crippled  brake. 
A  dry  gully  was  coming,  and  no  room  to  turn. 
The  farther  side  of  it  was  terraced  with  rock. 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  55 

We  should  simply  fall  backward,  if  we  did  not 
fall  forward  first.  He  steered  the  horses  straight 
over,  and  just  at  the  bottom  swung  them,  with 
astonishing  skill,  to  the  right  along  the  hard- 
baked  mud.  They  took  us  along  the  bed  up  to 
the  head  of  the  gully,  and  through  a  thicket  of 
quaking  asps.  The  light  trees  bent  beneath  our 
charge  and  bastinadoed  the  wagon  as  it  went  over 
them.  But  their  branches  enmeshed  the  horses' 
legs,  and  we  came  to  a  harmless  standstill  among 
a  bower  of  leaves. 

I  looked  at  the  trustworthy  man,  and  smiled 
vaguely.  He  considered  me  for  a  moment. 

"  I  reckon,"  said  he,  "  you're  feelin'  about  half 
way  between  '  Oh,  Lord  ! '  and  '  Thank  God  ! ' ' 

"  That's  quite  it,"  said  I,  as  he  got  down  on  the 
ground. 

"  Nothing's  broke,"  said  he,  after  a  searching 
examination.  And  he  indulged  in  a  true  Vir 
ginian  expletive.  "  Gentlemen,  hush  !  "  he  mur 
mured  gently,  looking  at  me  with  his  grave  eyes ; 
"  one  time  I  got  pretty  near  scared.  You,  Buck," 
he  continued,  "some  folks  would  beat  you  now 
till  yu'd  be  uncertain  whether  yu'  was  a  hawss 
or  a  railroad  accident.  I'd  do  it  myself,  only  it 
wouldn't  cure  yu'." 

I  now  told  him  that  I  supposed  he  had  saved 
both  our  lives.  But  he  detested  words  of  direct 
praise.  He  made  some  grumbling  rejoinder,  and 
led  the  horses  out  of  the  thicket.  Buck,  he  ex 
plained  to  me,  was  a  good  horse,  and  so  was 
Muggins.  Both  of  them  generally  meant  well, 
and  that  was  the  Judge's  reason  for  sending  them 
to  meet  me.  But  these  broncos  had  their  off  days. 


5 6  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Off  days  might  not  come  very  often ;  but  when 
the  humor  seized  a  bronco,  he  had  to  have  his 
spree.  Buck  would  now  behave  himself  as  a  horse 
should  for  probably  two  months.  "  They  are  just 
like  humans,"  the  Virginian  concluded. 

Several  cow-boys  arrived  on  a  gallop  to  find  how 
many  pieces  of  us  were  left.  We  returned  down 
the  hill ;  and  when  we  reached  my  trunk,  it  was 
surprising  to  see  the  distance  that  our  runaway 
had  covered.  My  hat  was  also  found,  and  we  con 
tinued  on  our  way. 

Buck  and  Muggins  were  patterns  of  discretion 
through  the  rest  of  the  mountains.  I  thought 
when  we  camped  this  night  that  it  was  strange 
Buck  should  be  again  allowed  to  graze  at  large, 
instead  of  being  tied  to  a  rope  while  we  slept. 
But  this  was  my  ignorance.  With  the  hard  work 
that  he  was  gallantly  doing,  the  horse  needed 
more  pasture  than  a  rope's  length  would  permit 
him  to  find.  Therefore  he  went  free,  and  in  the 
morning  gave  us  but  little  trouble  in  catching 
him. 

We  crossed  a  river  in  the  forenoon,  and  far  to 
the  north  of  us  we  saw  the  Bow  Leg  Mountains, 
pale  in  the  bright  sun.  Sunk  Creek  flowed  from 
their  western  side,  and  our  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  miles  began  to  grow  a  small  thing  in  my 
eyes.  Buck  and  Muggins,  I  think,  knew  perfectly 
that  to-morrow  would  see  them  home.  They  rec 
ognized  this  region ;  and  once  they  turned  off  at 
a  fork  in  the  road.  The  Virginian  pulled  them 
back  rather  sharply. 

"  Want  to  go  back  to  Balaam's  ? "  he  inquired 
of  them.  "  I  thought  you  had  more  sense." 


DEEP   INTO   CATTLE   LAND  57 

I  asked,  Who  was  Balaam? 

"  A  maltreater  of  hawsses,"  replied  the  cow- 
puncher.  "  His  ranch  is  on  Butte  Creek  oveh 
yondeh."  And  he  pointed  to  where  the  diverg 
ing  road  melted  into  space.  "  The  Judge  bought 
Buck  and  Muggins  from  him  in  the  spring." 

"  So  he  maltreats  horses  ?  "  I  repeated. 

"  That's  the  word  all  through  this  country.  A 
man  that  will  do  what  they  claim  Balaam  does  to 
a  hawss  when  he's  mad,  ain't  fit  to  be  called  hu 
man."  The  Virginian  told  me  some  particulars. 

"  Oh !  "  I  almost  screamed  at  the  horror  of  it, 
and  again,  "  Oh !  " 

"  He'd  have  prob'ly  done  that  to  Buck  as  soon 
as  he  stopped  rurmin'  away.  If  I  caught  a  man 
doin'  that  —  " 

We  were  interrupted  by  a  sedate-looking  travel 
ler  riding  upon  an  equally  sober  horse. 

"  Mawnin',  Taylor,"  said  the  Virginian,  pulling 
up  for  gossip.  "  Ain't  you  strayed  off  your  range 
pretty  far  ?  " 

"  You're  a  nice  one ! "  replied  Mr.  Taylor,  stop 
ping  his  horse  and  smiling  amiably. 

"  Tell  me  something  I  don't  know,"  retorted 
the  Virginian. 

"  Hold  up  a  man  at  cards  and  rob  him,"  pur 
sued  Mr.  Taylor.  "  Oh,  the  news  has  got  ahead 
of  you!" 

"  Trampas  has  been  hyeh  explaining  has  he  ? 
said  the  Virginian  with  a  grin. 

"  Was  that  your  victim's  name  ? "  said  Mr. 
Taylor,  facetiously.  "  No,  it  wasn't  him  that 
brought  the  news.  Say,  what  did  you  do,  any 
way  ? " 


58  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  So  that  thing  has  got  around,"  murmured  the 
Virginian.  "  Well,  it  wasn't  worth  such  wide  re- 
pawtin'."  And  he  gave  the  simple  facts  to  Taylor, 
while  I  sat  wondering  at  the  contagious  powers  of 
Rumor.  Here,  through  this  voiceless  land,  this 
desert,  this  vacuum,  it  had  spread  like  a  change 
of  weather.  "  Any  news  up  your  way  ?  "  the  Vir 
ginian  concluded. 

Importance  came  into  Mr.  Taylor's  countenance. 
"  Bear  Creek  is  going  to  build  a  schoolhouse," 
said  he. 

"  Goodness  gracious !  "  drawled  the  Virginian. 
"What's  that  for?" 

Now  Mr.  Taylor  had  been  married  for  some 
years.  "  To  educate  the  offspring  of  Bear  Creek," 
he  answered  with  pride. 

"  Offspring  of  Bear  Creek,"  the  Virginian  medi 
tatively  repeated.  "  I  don't  remember  noticin' 
much  offspring.  There  was  some  white  tail  deer, 
and  a  right  smart  o'  jack  rabbits." 

"  The  Swintons  have  moved  up  from  Drybone," 
said  Mr.  Taylor,  always  seriously.  "  They  found 
it  no  place  for  young  children.  And  there's  Uncle 
Carmody  with  six,  and  Ben  Dow.  And  Westfall 
has  become  a  family  man,  and  —  " 

"  Jim  Westfall ! "  exclaimed  the  Virginian. 
"Him  a  fam'ly  man !  Well,  if  this  hyeh  Terri 
tory  is  goin'  to  get  full  o'  fam'ly  men  and  empty 
o'  game,  I  believe  I'll  —  " 

"  Get  married  yourself,"  suggested  Mr.  Taylor. 

"  Me !  I  ain't  near  reached  the  marriageable 
age.  No,  seh !  But  Uncle  Hughey  has  got  there 
at  last,  yu'  know." 

"Uncle   Hughey!"  shouted   Mr.  Taylor.     He 


DEEP  INTO   CATTLE   LAND  59 

had  not  heard  this.  Rumor  is  very  capricious. 
Therefore  the  Virginian  told  him,  and  the  family 
man  rocked  in  his  saddle. 

"  Build  your  schoolhouse,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Uncle  Hughey  has  qualified  himself  to  subscribe 
to  all  such  propositions.  Got  your  eye  on  a  school- 
marm  ? " 


V 

ENTER   THE    WOMAN 


"  WE  are  taking  steps,"  said  Mr.  Taylor.     "  Bear 
Creek  ain't  going  to  be  hasty  about  a  school- 


marm." 


"  Sure,"  assented  the  Virginian.  "  The  children 
wouldn't  want  yu'  to  hurry." 

But  Mr.  Taylor  was,  as  I  have  indicated,  a  seri 
ous  family  man.  The  problem  of  educating  his 
children  could  appear  to  him  in  no  light  except 
a  sober  one.  "  Bear  Creek,"  he  said,  "  don't  want 
the  experience  they  had  over  at  Calef.  We  must 
not  hire  an  ignoramus." 

"Sure!"  assented  the  Virginian  again. 

"  Nor  we  don't  want  no  gad-a-way  flirt,"  said 
Mr.  Taylor. 

"  She  must  keep  her  eyes  on  the  blackboa'd," 
said  the  Virginian,  gently. 

"  Well,  we  can  wait  till  we  get  a  guaranteed 
article,"  said  Mr.  Taylor.  "  And  that's  what  we're 
going  to  do.  It  can't  be  this  year,  and  it  needn't 
to  be.  None  of  the  kids  is  very  old,  and  the 
schoolhouse  has  got  to  be  built."  He  now  drew 
a  letter  from  his  pocket,  and  looked  at  me.  "  Are 
you  acquainted  with  Miss  Mary  Stark  Wood 
of  Bennington,  Vermont?"  he  inquired. 

I  was  not  acquainted  with  her  at  this  time. 

60 


ENTER  THE   WOMAN  61 

"  She's  one  we  are  thinking  of.  She's  a  cor 
respondent  with  Mrs.  Balaam."  Taylor  handed 
me  the  letter.  "  She  wrote  that  to  Mrs.  Balaam, 
and  Mrs.  Balaam  said  the  best  thing  was  for  to 
let  me  see  it  and  judge  for  myself.  I'm  taking 
it  back  to  Mrs.  Balaam.  Maybe  you  can  give 
me  your  opinion  how  it  sizes  up  with  the  letters 
they  write  back  East  ?  " 

The  communication  was  mainly  of  a  business 
kind,  but  also  personal,  and  freely  written.  I 
do  not  think  that  its  writer  expected  it  to  be 
exhibited  as  a  document.  The  writer  wished 
very  much  that  she  could  see  the  West.  But 
she  could  not  gratify  'this  desire  merely  for 
pleasure,  or  she  would  long  ago  have  accepted 
the  kind  invitation  to  visit  Mrs.  Balaam's  ranch. 
Teaching  school  was  something  she  would  like 
to  do,  if  she  were  fitted  for  it.  "  Since  the  mills 
failed  "  (the  writer  said)  "  we  have  all  gone  to  work 
and  done  a  lot  of  things  so  that  mother  might 
keep  on  living  in  the  old  house.  Yes,  the  salary 
would  be  a  temptation.  But,  my  dear,  isn't 
Wyoming  bad  for  the  complexion  ?  And  could 
I  sue  them  if  mine  got  damaged  ?  It  is  still 
admired.  I  could  bring  one  male  witness  at 
least  to  prove  that !  "  Then  the  writer  became 
businesslike  again.  Even  if  she  came  to  feel 
that  she  could  leave  home,  she  did  not  at  all 
know  that  she  could  teach  school.  Nor  did  she 
think  it  right  to  accept  a  position  in  which  one 
had  had  no  experience.  "  I  do  love  children, 
boys  especially,"  she  went  on.  "  My  small  nephew 
and  I  get  on  famously.  But  imagine  if  a  whole 
benchful  of  boys  began  asking  me  questions  that 


62  THE   VIRGINIAN 

I  couldn't  answer !  What  should  I  do  ?  For 
one  could  not  spank  them  all,  you  know !  And 
mother  says  that  I  ought  not  to  teach  anybody 
spelling,  because  I  leave  the  u  out  of  honor? 

Altogether  it  was  a  letter  which  I  could  assure 
Mr.  Taylor  "  sized  up  "  very  well  with  the  letters 
written  in  my  part  of  the  United  States.  And 
it  was  signed,  "  Your  very  sincere  spinster, 
Molly  Stark  Wood." 

"  I  never  seen  honor  spelled  with  a  #,"  said 
Mr.  Taylor,  over  whose  not  highly  civilized  head 
certain  portions  of  the  letter  had  lightly  passed. 

I  told  him  that  some  old-fashioned  people  still 
wrote  the  word  so. 

"  Either  way  would  satisfy  Bear  Creek,"  said 
Mr.  Taylor,  "  if  she's  otherwise  up  to  require 
ments." 

The  Virginian  was  now  looking  over  the  letter 
musingly,  and  with  awakened  attention. 

" '  Your  very  sincere  spinster,' "  he  read  aloud 
slowly. 

"  I  guess  that  means  she's  forty,"  said  Mr. 
Taylor. 

"  I  reckon  she  is  about  twenty,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian.  And  again  he  fell  to  musing  over  the 
paper  that  he  held. 

"  Her  handwriting  ain't  like  any  I've  saw," 
pursued  Mr.  Taylor.  "  But  Bear  Creek  would 
not  object  to  that,  provided  she  knows  'rithmetic 
and  George  Washington,  and  them  kind  of  things." 

"  I  expect  she  is  not  an  awful  sincere  spinster," 
surmised  the  Virginian,  still  looking  at  the  letter, 
still  holding  it  as  if  it  were  some  token. 

Has  any  botanist  set  down  what  the  seed  of 


ENTER   THE   WOMAN  63 

love  is?  Has  it  anywhere  been  set  down  in 
how  many  ways  this  seed  may  be  sown  ?  In 
what  various  vessels  of  gossamer  it  can  float 
across  wide  spaces  ?  Or  upon  what  different 
soils  it  can  fall,  and  live  unknown,  and  bide  its 
time  for  blooming? 

The  Virginian  handed  back  to  Taylor  the 
sheet  of  note  paper  where  a  girl  had  talked  as 
the  women  he  had  known  did  not  talk.  If  his 
eyes  had  ever  seen  such  maidens,  there  had  been 
no  meeting  of  eyes ;  and  if  such  maidens  had 
ever  spoken  to  him,  the  speech  was  from  an 
established  distance.  But  here  was  a  free 
language,  altogether  new  to  him.  It  proved, 
however,  not  alien  to  his  understanding,  as  it 
was  alien  to  Mr.  Taylor's. 

We  drove  onward,  a  mile  perhaps,  and  then 
two.  He  had  lately  been  full  of  words,  but 
now  he  barely  answered  me,  so  that  a  silence 
fell  upon  both  of  us.  It  must  have  been  all  of 
ten  miles  that  we  had  driven  when  he  spoke  of 
his  own  accord. 

"  Your  real  spinster  don't  speak  of  her  lot  that 
easy,"  he  remarked.  And  presently  he  quoted  a 
phrase  about  the  complexion,  "  *  Could  I  sue 
them  if  mine  got  damaged?'  '  and  he  smiled 
over  this  to  himself,  shaking  his  head.  "  What 
would  she  be  doing  on  Bear  Creek  ? "  he  next 
said.  And  finally :  "  I  reckon  that  witness  will 
detain  her  in  Vermont.  And  her  mother'll  keep 
livin'  at  the  old  house." 

Thus  did  the  cow-puncher  deliver  himself,  not 
knowing  at  all  that  the  seed  had  floated  across 
wide  spaces,  and  was  biding  its  time  in  his  heart. 


64  THE   VIRGINIAN 

On  the  morrow  we  reached  Sunk  Creek.  Judge 
Henry's  welcome  and  his  wife's  would  have  oblit 
erated  any  hardships  that  I  had  endured,  and  I 
had  endured  none  at  all. 

For  a  while  I  saw  little  of  the  Virginian.  He 
lapsed  into  his  native  way  of  addressing  me  occa 
sionally  as  "  seh  "  —  a  habit  entirely  repudiated 
by  this  land  of  equality.  I  was  sorry.  Our  com 
mon  peril  during  the  runaway  of  Buck  and  Mug 
gins  had  brought  us  to  a  familiarity  that  I  hoped 
was  destined  to  last,  j  But  I  think  that  it  would 
not  have  gone  farther,  save  for  a  certain  personage 
—  I  must  call  her  a  personage.  And  as  I  am 
indebted  to  her  for  gaining  me  a  friend  whose 
prejudice  against  me  might  never  have  been 
otherwise  overcome,  I  shall  tell  you  her  little 
story,  and  how  her  misadventures  and  her  fate 
came  to  bring  the  Virginian  and  me  to  an  appre 
ciation  of  one  another.  Without  her,  it  is  likely 
I  should  also  not  have  heard  so  much  of  the 
story  of  the  schoolmarm,  and  how  that  lady  at 
last  came  to  Bear  Creek. 


VI 


EM'LY 

MY  personage  was  a  hen,  and  she  lived  at  the 
Sunk  Creek  Ranch. 

Judge  Henry's  ranch  was  notable  for  several 
luxuries.  He  had  milk,  for  example.  In  those 
days  his  brother  ranchmen  had  thousands  of  cat 
tle  very  often,  but  not  a  drop  of  milk,  save  the 
condensed  variety.  Therefore  they  had  no  butter. 
The  Judge  had  plenty.  Next  rarest  to  butter  and 
milk  in  the  cattle  country  were  eggs.  But  my 
host  had  chickens.  Whether  this  was  because 
he  had  followed  cock-fighting  in  his  early  days, 
or  whether  it  was  due  to  Mrs.  Henry,  I  cannot 
say.  I  only  know  that  when  I  took  a  meal  else 
where,  I  was  likely  to  find  nothing  but  the  eternal 
"sowbelly,"  beans,  and  coffee;  while  at  Sunk 
Creek  the  omelet  and  the  custard  were  frequent. 
The  passing  traveller  was  glad  to  tie  his  horse 
to  the  fence  here,  and  sit  down  to  the  Judge's 
table.  For  its  fame  was  as  wide  as  Wyoming. 
It  was  an  oasis  in  the  Territory's  desolate  bill-of- 
fare. 

The  long  fences  of  Judge  Henry's  home  ranch 
began  upon  Sunk  Creek  soon  after  that  stream 
emerged  from  its  canon  through  the  Bow  Leg. 
It  was  a  place  always  well  cared  for  by  the  owner, 
even  in  the  days  of  his  bachelorhood.  The  placid 

F  6S 


66  THE  VIRGINIAN 

regiments  of  cattle  lay  in  the  cool  of  the  cotton- 
woods  by  the  water,  or  slowly  moved  among  the 
sage-brush,  feeding  upon  the  grass  that  in  those 
forever  departed  years  was  plentiful  and  tall.  The 
steers  came  fat  off  his  unenclosed  range  and  fat 
tened  still  more  in  his  large  pasture ;  while  his 
small  pasture,  a  field  some  eight  miles  square, 
was  for  several  seasons  given  to  the  Judge's 
horses,  and  over  this  ample  space  there  played 
and  prospered  the  good  colts  which  he  raised 
from  Paladin,  his  imported  stallion.  After  he 
married,  I  have  been  assured  that  his  wife's  in 
fluence  became  visible  in  and  about  the  house 
at  once.  Shade  trees  were  planted,  flowers  at 
tempted,  and  to  the  chickens  was  added  the  much 
more  troublesome  turkey.  I,  the  visitor,  was 
pressed  into  service  when  I  arrived,  green  from 
the  East.  I  took  hold  of  the  farmyard  and  began 
building  a  better  chicken  house,  while  the  Judge 
was  off  creating  meadow  land  in  his  gray  and 
yellow  wilderness.  When  any  cow-boy  was  un 
occupied,  he  would  lounge  over  to  my  neighbor 
hood,  and  silently  regard  my  carpentering 

Those  cow-punchers  bore  names  of  various  de 
nominations.  There  was  Honey  Wiggih ;  there 
was  Nebrasky,  and  Dollar  Bill,  and  Chalkeye. 
And  they  came  from  farms  and  cities,  from  Maine 
and  from  California.  But  the  romance  of  Ameri 
can  adventure  had  drawn  them  all  alike  to  this  great 
playground  of  young  men,  and  in  their  courage, 
their  generosity,  and  their  amusement  at  me  they 
bore  a  close  resemblance  to  each  other.  Each 
one  would  silently  observe  my  achievements  with 
the  hammer  and  the  chisel.  Then  he  would  retire 


EM'LY  67 

I 

to  the  bunk-house,  and  presently  I  would  over 
hear  laughter.  But  this  was  only  in  the.  morning. 
In  the  afternoon  on  many  days  of  the  summer 
which  I  spent  at  the  Sunk  Creek  Ranch  I  would 
go  shooting,  or  ride  up  toward  the  entrance  of 
the  canon  and  watch  the  men  working  on  the 
irrigation  ditches.  Pleasant  systems  of  water 
running  in  channels  were  being  led  through  the 
soil,  and  there  was  a  sound  of  rippling  here  and 
there  among  the  yellow  grain ;  the  green  thick 
alfalfa  grass  waved  almost,  it  seemed,  of  its  own 
accord,  for  the  wind  never  blew;  and  when  at 
evening  the  sun  lay  against  the  plain,  the  rift  of 
the  canon  was  filled  with  a  violet  light,  and  the 
Bow  Leg  Mountains  became  transfigured  with 
hues  of  floating  and  unimaginable  color.  The 
sun  shone  in  a  sky  where  never  a  cloud  came, 
and  noon  was  not  too  warm  nor  the  dark  too 
cool.  And  so  for  two  months  I  went  through 
these  pleasant  uneventful  days,  improving  the 
chickens,  an  object  of  mirth,  living  in  the  open 
air,  and  basking  in  the  perfection  of  con 
tent. 

I  was  justly  styled  a  tenderfoot.  Mrs.  Henry 
had  in  the  beginning  endeavored  to  shield  me 
from  this  humiliation ;  but  when  she  found  that  I 
was  inveterate  in  laying  my  inexperience  of  West 
ern  matters  bare  to  all  the  world,  begging  to  be 
enlightened  upon  rattlesnakes,  prairie-dogs,  owls, 
blue  and  willow  grouse,  sage-hens,  how  to  rope  a 
horse  or  tighten  the  front  cinch  of  my  saddle,  and 
that  my  spirit  soared  into  enthusiasm  at  the  mere 
sight  of  so  ordinary  an  animal  as  a  white-tailed 
deer,  she  let  me  rush  about  with  my  firearms, 


68  THE  VIRGINIAN 

and  made  no  further  effort  to  stave  off  the  ridicule 
that  my  blunders  perpetually  earned  from  the 
ranch  hands,  her  own  humorous  husband,  and 
any  chance  visitor  who  stopped  for  a  meal  or 
stayed  the  night. 

I  was  not  called  by  my  name  after  the  first 
feeble  etiquette  due  to  a  stranger  in  his  first  few 
hours  had  died  away.  I  was  known  simply  as 
"the  tenderfoot."  I  was  introduced  to  the 
neighborhood  (a  circle  of  eighty  miles)  as  "the 
tenderfoot."  It  was  thus  that  Balaam,  the  mal- 
treater  of  horses,  learned  to  address  me  when  he 
came  a  two  days'  journey  to  pay  a  visit.  And  it 
was  this  name  and  my  notorious  helplessness  that 
bid  fair  to  end  what  relations  I  had  with  the  Vir 
ginian.  For  when  Judge  Henry  ascertained  that 
nothing  could  prevent  me  from  losing  myself,  that 
it  was  not  uncommon  for  me  to  saunter  out  after 
breakfast  with  a  gun  and  in  thirty  minutes  cease 
to  know  north  from  south,  he  arranged  for  my 
protection.  He  detailed  an  escort  for  me ;  and 
the  escort  was  once  more  the  trustworthy  man ! 
The  poor  Virginian  was  taken  from  his  work  and 
his  comrades  and  set  to  playing  nurse  for  me. 
And  for  a  while  this  humiliation  ate  into  his  un 
tamed  soul.  It  was  his  lugubrious  lot  to  accom 
pany  me  in  my  rambles,  preside  over  my  blunders, 
and  save  me  from  calamitously  passing  into  the 
next  world.  He  bore  it  in  courteous  silence,  ex 
cept  when  speaking  was  necessary.  He  would 
show  me  the  lower  ford,  which  I  could  never  find 
for  myself,  generally  mistaking  a  quicksand  for  it. 
He  would  tie  my  horse  properly.  He  would 
recommend  me  not  to  shoot  my  rifle  at  a  white- 


EM'LY  69 

tailed  deer  in  the  particular  moment  that  the  out 
fit  wagon  was  passing  behind  the  animal  on  the 
further  side  of  the  brush.  There  was  seldom  a 
day  that  he  was  not  obliged  to  hasten  and  save 
me  from  sudden  death  or  from  ridicule,  which  is 
worse.  Yet  never  once  did  he  lose  his  patience ; 
and  his  gentle,  slow  voice,  and  apparently  lazy 
manner  remained  the  same,  whether  we  were  sit 
ting  at  lunch  together,  or  up  in  the  mountains 
during  a  hunt,  or  whether  he  was  bringing  me 
back  my  horse,  which  had  run  away  because  I 
had  again  forgotten  to  throw  the  reins  over  his 
head  and  let  them  trail. 

"He'll  always  stand  if  yu'  do  that,"  the  Vir 
ginian  would  say.  "  See  how  my  hawss  stays 
right  quiet  yondeh." 

After  such  admonition  he  would  say  no  more 
to  me.  But  this  tame  nursery  business  was  as 
suredly  gall  to  him.  For  though  utterly  a  man  in 
countenance  and  in  his  self-possession  and  inca 
pacity  to  be  put  at  a  loss,  he  was  still  boyishly 
proud  of  his  wild  calling,  and  wore  his  leathern 
shaps  and  jingled  his  spurs  with  obvious  pleasure. 
His  tiger  limberness  and  his  beauty  were  rich 
with  unabated  youth ;  and  that  force  which  lurked 
beneath  his  surface  must  often  have  curbed  his 
intolerance  of  me.  In  spite  of  what  I  knew  must 
be  his  opinion  of  me,  the  tenderfoot,  my  liking  for 
him  grew,  and  I  found  his  silent  company  more 
and  more  agreeable.  That  he  had  spells  of  talk 
ing,  I  had  already  learned  at  Medicine  Bow.  But 
his  present  taciturnity  might  almost  have  effaced 
this  impression,  had  I  not  happened  to  pass  by 
the  bunk-house  one  evening  after  dark,  when 


70  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Honey  Wiggin  and  the  rest  of  the  cow-boys  were 
gathered  inside  it. 

That  afternoon  the  Virginian  and  I  had  gone 
duck  shooting.  We  had  found  several  in  a  beaver 
dam,  and  I  had  killed  two  as  they  sat  close  to 
gether;  but  they  floated  against  the  breastwork  of 
sticks  out  in  the  water  some  four  feet  deep,  where 
the  escaping  current  might  carry  them  down 
the  stream.  The  Judge's  red  setter  had  not 
accompanied  us,  because  she  was  expecting  a 
family. 

"  We  don't  want  her  along  anyways,"  the  cow- 
puncher  had  explained  to  me.  "  She  runs  around 
mighty  irresponsible,  and  she'll  stand  a  prairie-dog 
'bout  as  often  as  she'll  stand  a  bird.  She's  a  triflin' 
animal." 

My  anxiety  to  own  the  ducks  caused  me  to  pitch 
into  the  water  with  all  my  clothes  on,  and  subse 
quently  crawl  out  a  slippery,  triumphant,  weltering 
heap.  The  Virginian's  serious  eyes  had  rested 
upon  this  spectacle  of  mud;  but  he  expressed 
nothing,  as  usual. 

"They  ain't  overly  good  eatin',"  he  observed, 
tying  the  birds  to  his  saddle.  "  They're  divers." 

"Divers!"  I  exclaimed.  "Why  didn't  they 
dive?" 

"  I  reckon  they  was  young  ones  and  hadn't  ex 
perience." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  crestfallen,  but  attempting  to  be 
humorous,  "  I  did  the  diving  myself." 

But  the  Virginian  made  no  comment.  He 
handed  me  my  double-barrelled  English  gun, 
which  I  was  about  to  leave  deserted  on  the  ground 
behind  me,  and  we  rode  home  in  our  usual  silence, 


EM'LY  71 

the  mean  little  white-breasted,  sharp-billed  divers 
dangling  from  his  saddle. 

It  was  in  the  bunk-house  that  he  took  his  re 
venge.  As  I  passed  I  heard  his  gentle  voice 
silently  achieving  some  narrative  to  an  attentive 
audience,  and  just  as  I  came  by  the  open  window 
where  he  sat  on  his  bed  in  shirt  and  drawers,  his 
back  to  me,  I  heard  his  concluding  words,  "  And 
the  hat  on  his  haid  was  the  one  mark  showed  yu' 
he  weren't  a  snappin'-turtle." 

The  anecdote  met  with  instantaneous  success, 
and  I  hurried  away  into  the  dark. 

The  next  morning  I  was  occupied  with  the 
chickens.  Two  hens  were  fighting  to  sit  on  some 
eggs  that  a  third  was  daily  laying,  and  which  I  did 
not  want  hatched,  and  for  the  third  time  I  had 
kicked  Em'ly  off  seven  potatoes  she  had  rolled  to 
gether  and  was  determined  to  raise  I  know  not 
what  sort  of  family  from.  She  was  shrieking  about 
the  hen-house  as  the  Virginian  came  in  to  observe 
(I  suspect)  what  I  might  be  doing  now  that  could 
be  useful  for  him  to  mention  in  the  bunk-house. 

He  stood  awhile,  amd  at  length  said,  "  We  lost 
our  best  rooster  when  Mrs.  Henry  came  to  live 
hyeh." 

I  paid  no  attention. 

"  He  was  a  right  elegant  Dominicker,"  he  con 
tinued. 

I  felt  a  little  ruffled  about  the  snapping-turtle, 
and  showed  no  interest  in  what  he  was  saying,  but 
continued  my  functions  among  the  hens.  This 
unusual  silence  of  mine  seemed  to  elicit  unusual 
speech  from  him. 

"  Yu'  see,  that  rooster  he'd  always  lived  round 


72  THE   VIRGINIAN 

hyeh  when  the  Judge  was  a  bachelor,  and  he  never 
seen  no  ladies  or  any  persons  wearing  female  gyar- 
ments.  You  ain't  got  rheumatism,  seh  ?  " 

"  Me  ?     No." 

"  I  reckoned  maybe  them  little  old  divers  yu'  got 
damp  goin'  afteh  —  "  He  paused. 

"  Oh,  no,  not  in  the  least,  thank  you." 

"  Yu'  seemed  sort  o'  grave  this  mawnin',  and  I'm 
cert'nly  glad  it  ain't  them  divers." 

"  Well,  the  rooster  ?  "  I  inquired  finally. 

"  Oh,  him !  He  weren't  raised  where  he  could  see 
petticoats.  Mrs.  Henry  she  come  hyeh  from  the 
railroad  with  the  Judge  afteh  dark.  Next  mawnin' 
early  she  walked  out  to  view  her  new  home,  and 
the  rooster  was  a-feedin'  by  the  door,  and  he  seen 
her.  Well,  seh,  he  screeched  that  awful  I  run  out 
of  the  bunk-house  ;  and  he  jus'  went  over  the  fence 
and  took  down  Sunk  Creek  shoutin'  fire,  right 
along.  He  has  never  come  back." 

"  There's  a  hen  over  there  now  that  has  no 
judgment,"  I  said,  indicating  Em'ly.  She  had 
got  herself  outside  the  house,  and  was  on  the  bars 
of  a  corral,  her  vociferations  reduced  to  an  occa 
sional  squawk.  I  told  him  about  the  potatoes. 

"  I  never  knowed  her  name  before,"  said  he. 
"  That  runaway  rooster,  he  hated  her.  And  she 
hated  him  same  as  she  hates  'em  all." 

"  I  named  her  myself,"  said  I,  "  after  I  came  to 
notice  her  particularly.  There's  an  old  maid  at 
home  who's  charitable,  and  belongs  to  the  Cruelty 
to  Animals,  and  she  never  knows  whether  she 
had  better  cross  in  front  of  a  street  car  or  wait. 
I  named  the  hen  after  her.  Does  she  ever  lay 
eggs?" 


EM'LY  73 

The  Virginian  had  not  "  troubled  his  haid  " 
over  the  poultry. 

"  Well,  I  don't  believe  she  knows  how.  I  think 
she  came  near  being  a  rooster." 

"  She's  sure  manly-lookin',"  said  the  Virginian. 
We  had  walked  toward  the  corral,  and  he  was 
now  scrutinizing  Em'ly  with  interest. 

She  was  an  egregious  fowl.  She  was  huge  and 
gaunt,  with  great  yellow  beak,  and  she  stood 
straight  and  alert  in  the  manner  of  responsible 
people.  There  was  something  wrong  with  her 
tail.  It  slanted  far  to  one  side,  one  feather  in  it 
twice  as  long  as  the  rest.  Feathers  on  her  breast 
there  were  none.  These  had  been  worn  entirely 
off  by  her  habit  of  sitting  upon  potatoes  and  other 
rough  abnormal  objects.  And  this  lent  to  her 
appearance  an  air  of  being  decollete,  singularly 
at  variance  with  her  otherwise  prudish  ensemble. 
Her  eye  was  remarkably  bright,  but  somehow  it 
had  an  outraged  expression.  It  was  as  if  she 
went  about  the  world  perpetually  scandalized  over 
the  doings  that  fell  beneath  her  notice.  Her  legs 
were  blue,  long,  and  remarkably  stout. 

"  She'd  ought  to  wear  knickerbockers,"  mur 
mured  the  Virginian.  "  She'd  look  a  heap  better'n 
some  o'  them  college  students.  And  she'll  set  on 
potatoes,  yu'  say  ?  " 

"  She  thinks  she  can  hatch  out  anything.  I've 
found  her  with  onions,  and  last  Tuesday  I  caught 
her  on  two  balls  of  soap." 

•"""Intrie  afternoon  the  tall  cow-puncher  and  I  rode 
out  to  get  an  antelope. 

~After  an  hour,  durring  which  he  was  completely 
taciturn,  he  said :  "  I  reckon  maybe  this  hyeh  lone- 


74  THE   VIRGINIAN 

some  country  ain't  been  healthy  for  Em'ly  to  live 
in.  It  ain't  for  some  humans.  Them  old  trap 
pers  in  the  mountains  gets  skewed  in  the  haid 
mighty  often,  an'  talks  out  loud  when  nobody's 
nigher  'n  a  hundred  miles." 

"  Em'ly  has  not  been  solitary,"  I  replied.  "  There 
are  forty  chickens  here." 

"  That's  so,"  said  he.     "  It  don't  explain  her." 

He  fell  silent  again,  riding  beside  me,  easy  and 
indolent  in  the  saddle.  His  long  figure  looked  so 
loose  and  inert  that  the  swift,  light  spring  he  made 
to  the  ground  seemed  an  impossible  feat.  He  had 
seen  an  antelope  where  I  saw  none. 

"  Take  a  shot  yourself,"  I  urged  him,  as  he  mo 
tioned  me  to  be  quick.  "  You  never  shoot  when 
I'm  with  you." 

"  I  ain't  hyeh  for  that,"  he  answered.  "  Now 
you've  let  him  get  away  on  yu' ! " 

The  antelope  had  in  truth  departed. 

"  Why,"  he  said  to  my  protest,  "  I  can  hit 
them  things  any  day.  What's  your  notion  as  to 
Em'ly?" 

"  I  can't  account  for  her,"  I  replied. 

"  Well,"  he  said  musingly,  and  then  his  mind 
took  one  of  those  particular  turns  that  made  me 
love  him,  "  Taylor  ought  to  see  her.  She'd  be 
just  the  schoolmarm  for  Bear  Creek !  " 

"  She's  not  much  like  the  eating-house  lady  at 
Medicine  Bow,"  I  said. 

He  gave  a  hilarious  chuckle.  "  No,  Em'ly 
knows  nothing  o'  them  joys.  So  yu'  have  no  no 
tion  about  her?  Well,  I've  got  one.  I  reckon 
maybe  she  was  hatched  after  a  big  thunderstorm." 

"  A  big  thunderstorm !  "  I  exclaimed. 


EM'LY  75 

I 

"Yes.  Don't  yu'  know  about  them,  and  what 
they'll  do  to  aiggs  ?  A  big  case  o'  lightnin'  and 
thunder  will  addle  aiggs  and  keep  'em  from 
hatchin'.  And  I  expect  one  came  along,  and  all 
the  other  aiggs  of  Em'ly's  set  didn't  hatch  out,  but 
got  plumb  addled,  and  she  happened  not  to  get 
addled  that  far,  and  so  she  just  managed  to  make 
it  through.  But  she  cert'nly  ain't  got  a  strong 
haid." 

"  I  fear  she  has  not,"  said  I. 

"  Mighty  hon'ble  intentions,"  he  observed.  "  If 
she  can't  make  out  to  lay  anything,  she  wants  to 
hatch  somethin',  and  be  a  mother  anyways." 

"  I  wonder  what  relation  the  law  considers  that 
a  hen  is  to  the  chicken  she  hatched  but  did  not 
lay  ?  "  I  inquired. 

The  Virginian  made  no  reply  to  this  frivolous 
suggestion.  He  was  gazing  over  the  wide  land 
scape  gravely  and  with  apparent  inattention.  He 
invariably  saw  game  before  I  did,  and  was  off  his 
horse  and  crouched  among  the  sage  while  I  was 
still  getting  my  left  foot  clear  of  the  stirrup.  I 
succeeded  in  killing  an  antelope,  and  we  rode 
home  with  the  head  and  hind  quarters. 

"  No."  said  he.  "  It's  sure  the  thunder,  and 
not  the  lonesomeness.  How  do  yu'  like  the  lone- 
someness  yourself  ? " 

I  told  him  that  I  liked  it. 

"  I  could  not  live  without  it  now,"  he  said. 
"  This  has  got  into  my  system."  He  swept  his 
hand  out  at  the  vast  space  of  world.  "  I  went 
back  home  to  see  my  folks  onced.  Mother  was 
dyin'  slow,  and  she  wanted  me.  I  stayed  a  year. 
But  them  Virginia  mountains  could  please  me 


76  THE   VIRGINIAN 

no  more.  Af  teh  she  was  gone,  I  told  my  brothers 
and  sisters  good-by.  We  like  each  other  well 
enough,  but  I  reckon  I'll  not  go  back." 

We  found  Em'ly  seated  upon  a  collection  of 
green  California  peaches,  which  the  Judge  had 
brought  from  the  railroad. 

"  I  don't  mind  her  any  more,"  I  said ;  "  I'm  sorry 
for  her." 

"  I've  been  sorry  for  her  right  along,"  said  the 

Virginian.      "  She    does    hate    the    roosters    so." 

\And  he  said  that  he  was  making  a  collection  of 

every  class  of  object  which  he  found  her  treating 

as  eggs. 

But  Em'ly's  egg-industry  was  terminated  ab 
ruptly  one  morning,  and  her  unquestioned  energies 
diverted  to  a  new  channel.  A  turkey  which  had 
been  sitting  in  the  root-house  appeared  with  twelve 
children,  and  a  family  of  bantams  occurred  almost 
simultaneously.  Em'ly  was  importantly  scratch 
ing  the  soil  inside  Paladin's  corral  when  the 
bantam  tribe  of  newly  born  came  by  down  the 
lane,  and  she  caught  sight  of  them  through 
the  bars.  She  crossed  the  corral  at  a  run,  and 
intercepted  two  of  the  chicks  that  were  trailing 
somewhat  behind  their  real  mamma.  These  she 
undertook  to  appropriate,  and  assumed  a  high 
tone  with  the  bantam,  who  was  the  smaller,  and 
hence  obliged  to  retreat  with  her  still  numerous 
family.  I  interfered,  and  put  matters  straight ; 
but  the  adjustment  was  only  temporary.  In  an 
hour  I  saw  Em'ly  immensely  busy  with  two  more 
bantams,  leading  them  about  and  taking  a  care 
of  them  which  I  must  admit  seemed  perfectly 
efficient. 


EM'LY  77 

And  now  came  the  first  incident  that  made  me 
suspect  her  to  be  demented. 

She  had  proceeded  with  her  changelings  behind 
the  kitchen,  where  one  of  the  irrigation  ditches 
ran  under  the  fence  from  the  hay-field  to  supply 
the  house  with  water.  Some  distance  along  this 
ditch  inside  the  field  were  the  twelve  turkeys  in 
the  short,  recently  cut  stubble.  Again  Em'ly  set 
off  instantly  like  a  deer.  She  left  the  dismayed 
bantams  behind  her.  She  crossed  the  ditch  with 
one  jump  of  her  stout  blue  legs,  flew  over  the 
grass,  and  was  at  once  among  the  turkeys,  where, 
with  an  instinct  of  maternity  as  undiscriminating 
as  it  was  reckless,  she  attempted  to  huddle  some 
of  them  away.  But  this  other  mamma  was  not  a 
bantam,  and  in  a  few  moments  Em'ly  was  entirely 
routed  in  her  attempt  to  acquire  a  new  variety  of 
family. 

This  spectacle  was  witnessed  by  the  Virginian 
and  myself,  and  it  overcame  him.  He  went 
speechless  across  to  the  bunk-house,  by  himself, 
and  sat  on  his  bed,  while  I  took  the  abandoned 
bantams  back  to  their  own  circle. 

I  have  often  wondered  what  the  other  fowls 
thought  of  all  this.  Some  impression  it  certainly 
did  make  upon  them.  The  notion  may  seem  out 
of  reason  to  those  who  have  never  closely  attended 
to  other  animals  than  man ;  but  I  am  convinced 
that  any  community  which  shares  some  of  our 
instincts  will  share  some  of  the  resulting  feelings, 
and  that  birds  and  beasts  have  conventions,  the 
breach  of  which  startles  them.  If  there  be  any 
thing  in  evolution,  this  would  seem  inevitable. 
At  all  events,  the  chicken-house  was  upset  during 


78  THE   VIRGINIAN 

i 

the  following  several  days.  Em'ly  disturbed  now 
the  bantams  and  now  the  turkeys,  and  several  of 
these  latter  had  died,  though  I  will  not  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  this  was  the  result  of  her  misplaced 
attentions.  Nevertheless,  I  was  seriously  think 
ing  of  locking  her  up  till  the  broods  should  be  a 
little  older,  when  another  event  happened,  and  all 
was  suddenly  at  peace. 

The  Judge's  setter  came  in  one  morning,  wag 
ging  her  tail.  She  had  had  her  puppies,  and  she 
now  took  us  to  where  they  were  housed,  in  between 
the  floor  of  a  building  and  the  hollow  ground. 
Em'ly  was  seated  on  the  whole  litter. 

"  No,"  I  said  to  the  Judge,  "  I  am  not  surprised. 
She  is  capable  of  anything." 

In  her  new  choice  of  offspring,  this  hen  had 
at  length  encountered  an  unworthy  parent.  The 
setter  was  bored  by  her  own  puppies.  She  found 
the  hole  under  the  house  an  obscure  and  monoto 
nous  residence  compared  with  the  dining  room, 
and  our  company  more  stimulating  and  sympa 
thetic  than  that  of  her  children.  A  much-petted 
contact  with  our  superior  race  had  developed  her 
dog  intelligence  above  its  natural  level,  and  turned 
her  into  an  unnatural,  neglectful  mother,  who  was 
constantly  forgetting  her  nursery  for  worldly 
pleasures. 

At  certain  periods  of  the  day  she  repaired  to 
the  puppies  and  fed  them,  but  came  away  when 
this  perfunctory  ceremony  was  accomplished  ;  and 
she  was  glad  enough  to  have  a  governess  bring 
them  up.  She  made  no  quarrel  with  Em'ly,  and 
the  two  understood  each  other  perfectly.  I  have 
never  seen  among  animals  any  arrangement  so 


EM'LY  79 

civilized  and  so  perverted.  It  made  Em'ly  per 
fectly  happy.  To  see  her  sitting  all  day  jealously 
spreading  her  wings  over  some  blind  puppies  was 
sufficiently  curious ;  but  when  they  became  large 
enough  to  come  out  from  under  the  house  and 
toddle  about  in  the  proud  hen's  wake,  I  longed 
for  some  distinguished  naturalist.  I  felt  that 
our  ignorance  made  us  inappropriate  spectators 
of  such  a  phenomenon.  Em'ly  scratched  and 
clucked,  and  the  puppies  ran  to  her,  pawed  her 
with  their  fat  limp  little  legs,  and  retreated 
beneath  her  feathers  in  their  games  of  hide  and 
seek.  Conceive,  if  you  can,  what  confusion  must 
have  reigned  in  their  infant  minds  as  to  who  the 
setter  was ! 

"  I  reckon  they  think  she's  the  wet-nurse,"  said 
the  Virginian. 

When  the  puppies  grew  to  be  boisterous,  I  per 
ceived  that  Em'ly 's  mission  was  approaching  its 
end.  They  were  too  heavy  for  her,  and  their 
increasing  scope  of  playfulness  was  not  in  her 
line.  Once  or  twice  they  knocked  her  over,  upon 
which  she  arose  and  pecked  them  severely,  and 
they  retired  to  a  safe  distance,  and  sitting  in  a 
circle,  yapped  at  her.  I  think  they  began  to  sus 
pect  that  she  was  only  a  hen  after  all.  So  Em'ly 
resigned  with  an  indifference  which  surprised  me, 
until  I  remembered  that  if  it  had  been  chickens, 
she  would  have  ceased  to  look  after  them  by  this 
time. 

But  here  she  was  again  "  out  of  a  job,"  as  the 
Virginian  said. 

"She's  raised  them  puppies  for  that  triflin' 
setter,  and  now  she'll  be  huntin'  around  for 


8o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

something  else  useful  to  do  that  ain't  in  her 
business." 

Now  there  were  other  broods  of  chickens  to 
arrive  in  the  hen-house,  and  I  did  not  desire  any 
more  bantam  and  turkey  performances.  So,  to 
avoid  confusion,  I  played  a  trick  upon  Em'ly.  I 
went  down  to  Sunk  Creek  and  fetched  some 
smooth,  oval  stones.  She  was  quite  satisfied 
with  these,  and  passed  a  quiet  day  with  them  in 
a  box.  This  was  not  fair,  the  Virginian  asserted. 

"  You  ain't  going  to  jus'  leave  her  fooled  that 
a-way?" 

I  did  not  see  why  not. 

"  Why,  she  raised  them  puppies  all  right.  Ain't 
she  showed  she  knows  how  to  be  a  mother  any 
ways  ?  Em'ly  ain't  going  to  get  her  time  took  up 
for  nothing  while  I'm  round  hyeh,"  said  the  cow- 
puncher. 

He  laid  a  gentle  hold  of  Em'ly  and  tossed  her 
to  the  ground.  She,  of  course,  rushed  out  among 
the  corrals  in  a  great  state  of  nerves. 

"  I  don't  see  what  good  you  do  meddling,"  I 
protested. 

To  this  he  deigned  no  reply,  but  removed  the 
unresponsive  stones  from  the  straw. 

"  Why,  if  they  ain't  right  warm !  "  he  exclaimed 
plaintively.  "  The  poor,  deluded  son-of-a-gun  !  " 
And  with  this  unusual  description  of  a  lady,  he 
sent  the  stones  sailing  like  a  line  of  birds.  "  I'm 
regular  getting  stuck  on  Em'ly,"  continued  the 
Virginian.  "  Yu'  needn't  to  laugh.  Don't  yu' 
see  she's  got  sort  o'  human  feelin's  and  desires  ? 
I  always  knowed  hawsses  was  like  people,  and 
my  collie,  of  course.  It  is  kind  of  foolish,  I 


EM'LY  8 1 

expect,  but  that  hen's  goin'  to  have  a  real  aigg 
di-rectly,  right  now,  to  set  on."  With  this  he 
removed  one  from  beneath  another  hen.  "  We'll 
have  Em'ly  raise  this  hyeh,"  said  he,  "  so  she  can 
put  in  her  time  profitable." 

It  was  not  accomplished  at  once ;  for  Em'ly, 
singularly  enough,  would  not  consent  to  stay  in 
the  box  whence  she  had  been  routed.  At  length 
we  found  another  retreat  for  her,  and  in  these 
new  surroundings,  with  a  new  piece  of  work  for 
her  to  do,  Em'ly  sat  on  the  one  egg  which  the 
Virginian  had  so  carefully  provided  for  her. 

Thus,  as  in  all  genuine  tragedies,  was  the  stroke 
of  Fate  wrought  by  chance  and  the  best  intentions. 

Em'ly  began  sitting  on  Friday  afternoon  near 
sundown.  Early  next  morning  my  sleep  was 
gradually  dispersed  by  a  sound  unearthly  and 
continuous.  Now  it  dwindled,  receding  to  a  dis 
tance  ;  again  it  came  near,  took  a  turn,  drifted  to 
the  other  side  of  the  house  ;  then,  evidently,  what 
ever  it  was,  passed  my  door  close,  and  I  jumped 
upright  in  my  bed.  The  high,  tense  strain  of 
vibration,  nearly,  but  not  quite,  a  musical  note, 
was  like  the  threatening  scream  of  machinery, 
though  weaker,  and  I  bounded  out  of  the  house 
in  my  pajamas. 

There  was  Em'ly,  dishevelled,  walking  wildly 
about,  her  one  egg  miraculously  hatched  within 
ten  hours.  The  little  lonely  yellow  ball  of  down 
went  cheeping  along  behind,  following  its  mother 
as  best  it  could.  What,  then,  had  happened  to 
the  established  period  of  incubation  ?  For  an 
instant  the  thing  was  like  a  portent,  and  I  was 
near  joining  Em'ly  in  her  horrid  surprise,  when  I 


82  THE   VIRGINIAN 

saw  how  it  all  was.  The  Virginian  had  taken  an 
egg  from  a  hen  which  had  already  been  sitting  for 
three  weeks. 

I  dressed  in  haste,  hearing  Em'ly's  distracted 
outcry.  It  steadily  sounded,  without  perceptible 
pause  for  breath,  and  marked  her  erratic  journey 
back  and  forth  through  stables,  lanes,  and  corrals. 
The  shrill  disturbance  brought  all  of  us  out  to 
see  her,  and  in  the  hen-house  I  discovered  the 
new  brood  making  its  appearance  punctually. 

But  this  natural  explanation  could  not  be  made 
to  the  crazed  hen.  She  continued  to  scour  the 
premises,  her  slant  tail  and  its  one  preposterous 
feather  waving  as  she  aimlessly  went,  her  stout 
legs  stepping  high  with  an  unnatural  motion,  her 
head  lifted  nearly  off  her  neck,  and  in  her  brilliant 
yellow  eye  an  expression  of  more  than  outrage  at 
this  overturning  of  a  natural  law.  Behind  her, 
entirely  ignored  and  neglected,  trailed  the  little 
progeny.  She  never  looked  at  it.  We  went 
about  our  various  affairs,  and  all  through  the 
clear,  sunny  day  that  unending  metallic  scream 
pervaded  the  premises.  The  Virginian  put  out 
food  and  water  for  her,  but  she  tasted  nothing. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  little  chicken  did.  I  do 
not  think  that  the  hen's  eyes  could  see,  except  in 
the  way  that  sleep-walkers'  do. 

The  heat  went  out  of  the  air,  and  in  the  canon 
the  violet  light  began  to  show.  Many  hours  had 
gone,  but  Em'ly  never  ceased.  Now  she  suddenly 
flew  up  in  a  tree  and  sat  there  with  her  noise  still 
going ;  but  it  had  risen  lately  several  notes  into  a 
slim,  acute  level  of  terror,  and  was  not  like  ma 
chinery  any  more,  nor  like  any  sound  I  ever  heard 


EM'LY  83 

before  or  since.  Below  the  tree  stood  the  bewil 
dered  little  chicken,  cheeping,  and  making  tiny 
jumps  to  reach  its  mother. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  it's  comical.  Even 
her  aigg  acted  different  from  anybody  else's."  He 
paused,  and  looked  across  the  wide,  mellowing 
plain  with  the  expression  of  easy-going  gravity 
so  common  with  him.  Then  he  looked  at  Em'ly 
in  the  tree  and  the  yellow  chicken.  "  It  ain't  so 
damned  funny,"  said  he. 

We  went  in  to  supper,  and  I  came  out  to  find 
the  hen  lying  on  the  ground,  dead.  I  took  the 
chicken  to  the  family  in  the  hen-house. 

No,  it  was  not  altogether  funny  any  more.  And 
I  did  not  think  less  of  the  Virginian  when  I  came 
upon  him  surreptitiously  digging  a  little  hole  in 
the  field  for  her. 

"  I  have  buried  some  citizens  here  and  there," 
said  he,  "  that  I  have  respected  less." 

And  when  the  time  came  for  me  to  leave  Sunk 
Creek,  my  last  word  to  the  Virginian  was,  "  Don't 
forget  Em'ly." 

"  I  ain't  likely  to,"  responded  the  cow-puncher. 
"  She  is  just  one  o'  them  parables." 

Save  when  he  fell  into  his  native  idioms  (which, 
they  told  me,  his  wanderings  had  well-nigh  ob 
literated  until  that  year's  visit  to  his  home  again 
revived  them  in  his  speech),  he  had  now  for  a  long 
while  dropped  the  "  seh,"  and  all  other  barriers  be 
tween  us.  We  were  thorough  friends,  and  had 
exchanged  many  confidences  both  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  spirit.  He  even  went  the  length  of 
saying  that  he  would  write  me  the  Sunk  Creek 
news  if  I  would  send  him  a  line  now  and  then. 


84  THE  VIRGINIAN 

I  have  many  letters  from  him  now.  Their  spell 
ing  came  to  be  faultless,  and  in  the  beginning  was 
little  worse  than  George  Washington's. 

The  Judge  himself  drove  me  to  the  railroad 
by  another  way — across  the  Bow  Leg  Mountains, 
and  south  through  Balaam's  Ranch  and  Dry- 
bone  to  Rock  Creek. 

"  I'll  be  very  homesick,"  I  told  him. 

"  Come  and  pull  the  latch-string  whenever  you 
please,"  he  bade  me. 

I  wished  that  I  might !  No  lotus  land  ever 
cast  its  spell  upon  man's  heart  more  than  Wyo 
ming  had  enchanted  mine. 


VII 

THROUGH    TWO    SNOWS 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  [thus  in  the  spring  the  Vir 
ginian  wrote  me],  Yours  received.  It  must  be  a 
poor  thing  to  be  sick.  That  time  I  was  shot  at 
Canada  de  Oro  would  have  made  me  sick  if  it  had 
been  a  littel  lower  or  if  I  was  much  of  a  drinking 
man.  You  will  be  well  if  you  give  over  city  life 
and  take  a  hunt  with  me  about  August  or  say 
September  for  then  the  elk  will  be  out  of  the  vet 
vett. 

"  Things  do  not  pleaze  me  here  just  now  and  I 
am  going  to  settel  it  by  vamosing.  But  I  would 
be  glad  to  see  you.  It  would  be  pleasure  not 
business  for  me  to  show  you  plenty  elk  and  get 
you  strong.  I  am  not  crybabying  to  the  Judge 
or  making  any  kick  about  things.  He  will  want 
me  back  after  he  has  swallowed  a  littel  tincture  of 
time.  It  is  the  best  dose  I  know. 

"  Now  to  answer  your  questions.  Yes  the 
Emmily  hen  might  have  ate  loco  weed  if  hens  do. 
I  never  saw  anything  but  stock  and  horses  get 
poisoned  with  loco  weed.  No  the  school  is  not 
built  yet.  They  are  always  big  talkers  on  Bear 
Creek.  No  I  have  not  seen  Steve.  He  is  around 
but  I  am  sorry  for  him.  Yes  I  have  been  to 
Medicine  Bow.  I  had  the  welcom  I  wanted.  Do 

85 


86  THE   VIRGINIAN 

you  remember  a  man  I  played  poker  and  he  did 
not  like  it  ?  He  is  working  on  the  upper  ranch 
near  Ten  Sleep.  He  does  not  amount  to  a  thing 
except  with  weaklings.  Uncle  Hewie  has  twins. 
The  boys  got  him  vexed  some  about  it,  but  I  think 
they  are  his.  Now  that  is  all  I  know  to-day  and 
I  would  like  to  see  you  poco  presently  as  they  say 
at  Los  Cruces.  There's  no  sense  in  you  being 
sick." 

The  rest  of  this  letter  discussed  the  best  meet 
ing  point  for  us  should  I  decide  to  join  him  for  a 
hunt. 

That  hunt  was  made,  and  during  the  weeks  of 
its  duration  something  was  said  to  explain  a  little 
more  fully  the  Virginian's  difficulty  at  the  Sunk 
Creek  Ranch,  and  his  reason  for  leaving  his  excel 
lent  employer  the  Judge.  Not  much  was  said,  to 
be  sure ;  the  Virginian  seldom  spent  many  words 
upon  his  own  troubles.  But  it  appeared  that  owing 
to  some  jealousy  of  him  on  the  part  of  the  fore 
man,  or  the  assistant  foreman,  he  found  him 
self  continually  doing  another  man's  work,  but 
under  circumstances  so  skilfully  arranged  that  he 
got  neither  credit  nor  pay  for  it.  He  would  not 
stoop  to  telling  tales  out  of  school.  Therefore  his 
ready  and  prophetic  mind  devised  the  simple  ex 
pedient  of  going  away  altogether.  He  calculated 
that  Judge  Henry  would  gradually  perceive  there 
was  a  connection  between  his  departure  and  the 
cessation  of  the  satisfactory  work.  After  a  ju 
dicious  interval  it  was  his  plan  to  appear  again 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Sunk  Creek  and  await 
results. 

Concerning  Steve  he  would  say  no  more  than 


THROUGH   TWO   SNOWS  87 

he  had  written.  But  it  was  plain  that  for  some 
cause  this  friendship  had  ceased. 

Money  for  his  services  during  the  hunt  he  posi 
tively  declined  to  accept,  asserting  that  he  had  not 
worked  enough  to  earn  his  board.  And  the  expe 
dition  ended  in  an  untravelled  corner  of  the  Yel 
lowstone  Park,  near  Pitchstone  Canon,  where  he 
and  young  Lin  McLean  and  others  were  witnesses 
of  a  sad  and  terrible  drama  that  has  been  else 
where  chronicled. 

His  prophetic  mind  had  foreseen  correctly  the 
shape  of  events  at  Sunk  Creek.  The  only  thing 
that  it  had  not  foreseen  was  the  impression  to  be 
made  upon  the  Judge's  mind  by  his  conduct. 

Toward  the  close  of  that  winter,  Judge  and 
Mrs.  Henry  visited  the  East.  Through  them  a 
number  of  things  became  revealed.  The  Virgin 
ian  was  back  at  Sunk  Creek. 

"  And,"  said  Mrs.  Henry,  "he  would  never  have 
eft  you  if  I  had  had  my  way,  Judge  H. ! " 

"  No,  Madam  Judge,"  retorted  her  husband  ;  "  I 
m  aware  of  that.  For  you  have  always  appreci- 
ted  a  fine  appearance  in  a  man." 

"  I  certainly  have,"  confessed  the  lady,  mirth 
fully.  "  And  the  way  he  used  to  come  bringing 
my  horse,  with  the  ridges  of  his  black  hair  so 
carefully  brushed  and  that  blue  spotted  handker 
chief  tied  so  effectively  round  his  throat,  was 
something  that  I  missed  a  great  deal  after  he  went 
away." 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear,  for  this  warning.  I  have 
plans  that  will  keep  him  absent  quite  constantly 
for  the  future." 

And  then  they  spoke  less  flightily.     "  I  always 


88  THE   VIRGINIAN 

knew,"  said  the  lady,  "that  you  had  found  a 
treasure  when  that  man  came." 

The  Judge  laughed.  "  When  it  dawned  on  me," 
he  said,  "  how  cleverly  he  caused  me  to  learn  the 
value  of  his  services  by  depriving  me  of  them,  I 
doubted  whether  it  was  safe  to  take  him  back." 

"  Safe  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Henry. 

"  Safe,  my  dear.  Because  I'm  afraid  he  is  pretty 
nearly  as  shrewd  as  I  am.  And  that's  rather 
dangerous  in  a  subordinate."  The  Judge  laughed 
again.  "  But  his  action  regarding  the  man  they 
call  Steve  has  made  me  feel  easy." 

And  then  it  came  out  that  the  Virginian  was 
supposed  to  have  discovered  in  some  way  that 
Steve  had  fallen  from  the  grace  of  that  particular 
honesty  which  respects  another  man's  cattle.  It 
was  not  known  for  certain.  But  calves  had  begun 
to  disappear  in  Cattle  Land,  and  cows  had  been 
found  killed.  And  calves  with  one  brand  upon 
them  had  been  found  with  mothers  that  bore  the 
brand  of  another  owner.  This  industry  was  tak 
ing  root  in  Cattle  Land,  and  of  those  who  prac 
tised  it,  some  were  beginning  to  be  suspected. 
Steve  was  not  quite  fully  suspected  yet.  But  that 
the  Virginian  had  parted  company  with  him  was 
definitely  known.  And  neither  man  would  talk 
about  it. 

There  was  the  further  news  that  the  Bear  Creek 
schoolhouse  at  length  stood  complete,  floor, 
walls,  and  roof ;  and  that  a  lady  from  Bennington, 
Vermont,  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Balaam's,  had  quite 
suddenly  decided  that  she  would  try  her  hand  at 
instructing  the  new  generation. 

The  Judge  and  Mrs.  Henry  knew  this  because 


THROUGH   TWO   SNOWS  89 

Mrs.  Balaam  had  told  them  of  her  disappointment 
that  she  would  be  absent  from  the  ranch  on  Butte 
Creek  when  her  friend  arrived,  and  therefore  un 
able  to  entertain  her.  The  friend's  decision  had 
been  quite  suddenly  made,  and  must  form  the  sub 
ject  of  the  next  chapter. 


VIII 

THE    SINCERE    SPINSTER 

I  DO  not  know  with  which  of  the  two  estimates 
—  Mr.  Taylor's  or  the  Virginian's  —  you  agreed. 
Did  you  think  that  Miss  Mary  Stark  Wood  of 
Bennington,  Vermont,  was  forty  years  of  age  ? 
That  would  have  been  an  error.  At  the  time  she 
wrote  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Balaam,  of  which  letter 
certain  portions  have  been  quoted  in  these  pages, 
she  was  in  her  twenty-first  year;  or,  to  be  more 
precise,  she  had  been  twenty  some  eight  months 
previous. 

Now,  it  is  not  usual  for  young  ladies  of  twenty 
to  contemplate  a  journey  of  nearly  two  thousand 
miles  to  a  country  where  Indians  and  wild  animals 
live  unchained,  unless  they  are  to  make  such  jour 
ney  in  company  with  a  protector,  or  are  going  to 
a  protector's  arms  at  the  other  end.  Nor  is  school 
teaching  on  Bear  Creek  a  usual  ambition  for  such 
young  ladies. 

But  Miss  Mary  Stark  Wood  was  not  a  usual 
young  lady  for  two  reasons. 

First,  there  was  her  descent.  Had  she  so 
wished,  she  could  have  belonged  to  any  number 
of  those  patriotic  societies  of  which  our  Ameri 
can  ears  have  grown  accustomed  to  hear  so  much. 
She  could  have  been  enrolled  in  the  Boston  Tea 
Party,  the  Ethan  Allen  Ticonderogas,  the  Green 

90 


THE   SINCERE   SPINSTER  91 

Mountain  Daughters,  the  Saratoga  Sacred  Circle, 
and  the  Confederated  Colonial  Chatelaines.  She 
traced  direct  descent  from  the  historic  lady  whose 
name  she  bore,  that  Molly  Stark  who  was  not  a 
widow  after  the  battle  where  her  lord,  her  Captain 
John,  battled  so  bravely  as  to  send  his  name  thrill 
ing  down  through  the  blood  of  generations  of 
schoolboys.  This  ancestress  was  her  chief  claim 
to  be  a  member  of  those  shining  societies  which  I 
have  enumerated.  •  But  she  had  been  willing  to 
join  none  of  them,  although  invitations  to  do  so 
were  by  no  means  lacking.  I  cannot  tell  you  her 
reason.  Still,  I  can  tell  you  this.  When  these 
societies  were  much  spoken  of  in  her  presence, 
her  very  sprightly  countenance  became  more 
sprightly,  and  she  added  her  words  of  praise  or 
respect  to  the  general  chorus.  But  when  she  re 
ceived  an  invitation  to  join  one  of  these  bodies, 
her  countenance,  as  she  read  the  missive,  would 
assume  an  expression  which  was  known  to  her 
friends  as  "sticking  her  nose  in  the  air."  I  do 
not  think  that  Molly's  reason  for  refusing  to  join 
could  have  been  a  truly  good  one.  I  should  add 
that  her  most  precious  possession  —  a  treasure 
which  accompanied  her  even  if  she  went  away  for 
only  one  night's  absence — was  an  heirloom,  a  little 
miniature  portrait  of  the  old  Molly  Stark,  painted 
when  that  far-off  dame  must  have  been  scarce 
more  than  twenty.  And  when  each  summer  the 
young  Molly  went  to  Dunbarton,  New  Hampshire, 
to  pay  her  established  family  visit  to  the  last  sur 
vivors  of  her  connection  who  bore  the  na*me  of 
Stark,  no  word  that  she  heard  in  the  Dunbarton 
houses  pleased  her  so  much  as  when  a  certain 


92  THE  VIRGINIAN 

great-aunt  would  take  her  by  the  hand,  and, 
after  looking  with  fond  intentness  at  her,  pro 
nounce  :  — 

"  My  dear,  you're  getting  more  like  the  Gen 
eral's  wife  every  year  you  live." 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  my  nose,"  Molly  would 
then  reply. 

"  Nonsense,  child.  You  have  the  family  length 
of  nose,  and  I've  never  heard  that  it  has  disgraced 


us." 


"  But  I  don't  think  I'm  tall  enough  for  it." 

"  There  now,  run  to  your  room,  and  dress  for 
tea.  The  Starks  have  always  been  punctual." 

And  after  this  annual  conversation,  Molly  would 
run  to  her  room,  and  there  in  its  privacy,  even 
at  the  risk  of  falling  below  the  punctuality  of  the 
Starks,  she  would  consult  two  objects  for  quite  a 
minute  before  she  began  to  dress.  These  objects, 
as  you  have  already  correctly  guessed,  were  the 
miniature  of  the  General's  wife  and  the  looking- 
glass. 

So  much  for  Miss  Molly  Stark  Wood's  descent. 

The  second  reason  why  she  was  not  a  usual 
girl  was  her  character.  This  character  was  the 
result  of  pride  and  family  pluck  battling  with 
family  hardship. 

Just  one  year  before  she  was  to  be  presented  to 
the  world  —  not  the  great  metropolitan  world,  but 
a  world  that  would  have  made  her  welcome  and 
done  her  homage  at  its  little  dances  and  little 
dinners  in  Troy  and  Rutland  and  Burlington 
—  fortune  had  turned  her  back  upon  the  Woods. 
Their  possessions  had  never  been  great  ones ;  but 
they  had  sufficed.  From  generation  to  genera- 


THE   SINCERE   SPINSTER  93 

tion  the  family  had  gone  to  school  like  gentlefolk, 
dressed  like  gentlefolk,  used  the  speech  and  ways 
of  gentlefolk,  and  as  gentlefolk  lived  and  died. 
And  now  the  mills  failed. 

Instead  of  thinking  about  her  first  evening 
dress,  Molly  found  pupils  to  whom  she  could  give 
music  lessons.  She  found  handkerchiefs  that  she 
could  embroider  with  initials.  And  she  found 
fruit  that  she  could  make  into  preserves.  That 
machine  called  the  typewriter  was  then  in  exist 
ence,  but  the  day  of  women  typewriters  had  as 
yet  scarcely  begun  to  dawn,  else  I  think  Molly 
would  have  preferred  this  occupation  to  the  hand 
kerchiefs  and  the  preserves. 

There  were  people  in  Bennington  who  "  won 
dered  how  Miss  Wood  could  go  about  from  house 
to  house  teaching  the  piano,  and  she  a  lady." 
There  always  have  been  such  people,  I  suppose, 
because  the  world  must  always  have  a  rubbish 
heap.  But  we  need  not  dwell  upon  them  further 
than  to  mention  one  other  remark  of  theirs  re 
garding  Molly.  They  all  with  one  voice  declared 
that  Sam  Bannett  was  good  enough  for  anybody 
who  did  fancy  embroidery  at  five  cents  a  letter. 

"  I  dare  say  he  had  a  great -grandmother  quite 
as  good  as  hers,"  remarked  Mrs.  Flynt,  the  wife 
of  the  Baptist  minister. 

"  That's  entirely  possible,"  returned  the  Episco 
pal  rector  of  Hoosic,  "  only  we  don't  happen  to 
know  who  she  was."  The  rector  was  a  friend  of 
Molly's.  After  this  little  observation,  Mrs.  Flynt 
said  no  more,  but  continued  her  purchases  in  the 
store  where  she  and  the  rector  had  happened  to 
find  themselves  together.  Later  she  stated  to  a 


94  THE   VIRGINIAN 

friend  that  she  had  always  thought  the  Episcopal 
Church  a  snobbish  one,  and  now  she  knew  it. 

So  public  opinion  went  on  being  indignant 
over  Molly's  conduct.  She  could  stoop  to  work 
for  money,  and  yet  she  pretended  to  hold  herself 
above  the  most  rising  young  man  in  Hoosic  Falls, 
and  all  just  because  there  was  a  difference  in  their 
grandmothers ! 

Was  this  the  reason  at  the  bottom  of  it  ?  The 
very  bottom  ?  I  cannot  be  certain,  because  I 
have  never  been  a  girl  myself.  Perhaps  she 
thought  that  work  is  not  a  stooping,  and  that 
marriage  may  be.  Perhaps —  But  all  I  really 
know  is  that  Molly  Wood  continued  cheerfully  to 
embroider  the  handkerchiefs,  make  the  preserves, 
teach  the  pupils  —  and  firmly  to  reject  Sam 
Bannett. 

Thus  it  went  on  until  she  was  twenty.  Then 
certain  members  of  her  family  began  to  tell  her 
how  rich  Sam  was  going  to  be  —  was,  indeed, 
already.  It  was  at  this  time  that  she  wrote  Mrs. 
Balaam  her  doubts  and  her  desires  as  to  migrating 
to  Bear  Creek.  It  was  at  this  time  also  that  her 
face  grew  a  little  paler,  and  her  friends  thought 
that  she  was  overworked,  and  Mrs.  Flynt  feared 
she  was  losing  her  looks.  It  was  at  this  time, 
too,  that  she  grew  very  intimate  with  that  great- 
aunt  over  at  Dunbarton,  and  from  her  received 
much  comfort  and  strengthening. 

"  Never !  "  said  the  old  lady,  "  especially  if  you 
can't  love  him." 

"  I  do  like  him,"  said  Molly ;  "  and  he  is  very 
kind." 

"Never!"  said  the  old  lady  again.     "When  I 


THE   SINCERE   SPINSTER  95 


die,  you'll  have  something  —  and  that  will  not  be 
long  now." 

Molly  flung  her  arms  around  her  aunt,  and 
stopped  her  words  with  a  kiss. 

And  then  one  winter  afternoon,  two  years  later, 
came  the  last  straw. 

The  front  door  of  the  old  house  had  shut. 
Out  of  it  had  stepped  the  persistent  suitor.  Mrs. 
Flynt  watched  him  drive  away  in  his  smart  sleigh. 

"  That  girl  is  a  fool !  "  she  said  furiously ;  and 
she  came  away  from  her  bedroom  window  where 
she  had  posted  herself  for  observation. 

Inside  the  old  house  a  door  had  also  shut. 
This  was  the  door  of  Molly's  own  room.  And 
there  she  sat,  in  floods  of  tears.  For  she  could 
not  bear  to  hurt  a  man  who  loved  her  with  all 
the  power  of  love  that  was  in  him. 

It  was  about  twilight  when  her  door  opened, 
and  an  elderly  lady  came  softly  in. 

"  My  dear,"  she  ventured,  "  and  you  were  not 
able  —  " 

"  Oh,  mother !  "  cried  the  girl,  "  have  you  come 
to  say  that  too  ?  " 

The  next  day  Miss  Wood  had  become  very- 
hard.  In  three  weeks  she  had  accepted  the  posi 
tion  on  Bear  Creek.  In  two  months  she  started, 
heart-heavy,  but  with  a  spirit  craving  the  un 
known. 


IX 

THE    SPINSTER    MEETS    THE    UNKNOWN 

ON  a  Monday  noon  a  small  company  of  horse 
men  strung  out  along  the  trail  from  Sunk  Creek 
to  gather  cattle  over  their  allotted  sweep  of  range. 
Spring  was  backward,  and  they,  as  they  rode  gal 
loping  and  gathering  upon  the  cold  week's  work, 
cursed  cheerily  and  occasionally  sang.  The  Vir 
ginian  was  grave  in  bearing  and  of  infrequent 
speech ;  but  he  kept  a  song  going  —  a  matter  of 
some  seventy-nine  verses.  Seventy-eight  were 
quite  unprintable,  and  rejoiced  his  brother  cow- 
punchers  monstrously.  They,  knowing  him  to 
be  a  singular  man,  forebore  ever  to  press  him, 
and  awaited  his  own  humor,  lest  he  should  weary 
of  the  lyric ;  and  when  after  a  day  of  silence  ap 
parently  saturnine,  he  would  lift  his  gentle  voice 
and  begin :  — 

"  If  you  go  to  monkey  with  my  Looloo  girl, 
I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do  : 
I'll  cyarve  your  heart  with  my  razor,  AND 
I'll  shoot  you  with  my  pistol,  too  —  " 

then  they  would  stridently  take  up  each  last  line, 
and  keep  it  going  three,  four,  ten  times,  and  kick 
holes  in  the  ground  to  the  swing  of  it. 

By  the  levels  of  Bear  Creek  that  reach  like 
inlets  among  the  promontories  of  the  lonely  hills, 
they  came  upon  the  schoolhouse,  roofed  and 

96 


THE  SPINSTER  MEETS  THE  UNKNOWN       97 


ready  for  the  first  native  Wyoming  crop.  It 
symbolized  the  dawn  of  a  neighborhood,  and  it 
brought  a  change  into  the  wilderness  air.  The 
feel  of  it  struck  cold  upon  the  free  spirits  of  the 
cow-punchers,  and  they  told  each  other  that,  what 
with  women  and  children  and  wire  fences,  this 
country  would  not  long  be  a  country  for  men. 
They  stopped  for  a  meal  at  an  old  comrade's. 
They  looked  over  his  gate,  and  there  he  was 
pottering  among  garden  furrows. 

"  Pickin'  nosegays  ?  "  inquired  the  Virginian ; 
and  the  old  comrade  asked  if  they  could  not 
recognize  potatoes  except  in  the  dish.  But  he 

frinned  sheepishly  at  them,  too,  because  they 
new  that  he  had  not  always  lived  in  a  garden. 
Then  he  took  them  into  his  house,  where  they 
saw  an  object  crawling  on  the  floor  with  a  hand 
ful  of  sulphur  matches.  He  began  to  remove  the 
matches,  but  stopped  in  alarm  at  the  vociferous 
result;  and  his  wife  looked  in  from  the  kitchen 
to  caution  him  about  humoring  little  Christopher. 

When  she  beheld  the  matches  she  was  aghast ; 
but  when  she  saw  her  baby  grow  quiet  in  the 
arms  of  the  Virginian,  she  smiled  at  that  cow- 
puncher  and  returned  to  her  kitchen. 

Then  the  Virginian  slowly  spoke  again :  — 

u  How  many  little  strangers  have  yu'  got, 
James  ? " 

"  Only  two." 

"  My !  Ain't  it  most  three  years  since  yu' 
maried  ?  Yu'  mustn't  let  time  creep  ahaid  o'  yu', 
James." 

The  father  once  more  grinned  at  his  guests, 
who  themselves  turned  sheepish  and  polite;  for 


98  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Mrs.  Westfall  came  in,  brisk  and  hearty,  and  set 
the  meat  upon  the  table.  After  that,  it  was  she 
who  talked.  The  guests  ate  scrupulously,  mut 
tering,  "  Yes,  ma'am,"  and  "  No,  ma'am,"  in  their 
plates,  while  their  hostess  told  them  of  increas 
ing  families  upon  Bear  Creek,  and  the  expected 
school-teacher,  and  little  Alfred's  early  teething, 
and  how  it  was  time  for  all  of  them  to  become 
husbands  like  James.  The  bachelors  of  the  sad 
dle  listened,  always  diffident,  but  eating  heartily 
to  the  end;  and  soon  after  they  rode  away  in 
a  thoughtful  clump.  The  wives  of  Bear  Creek 
were  few  as  yet,  and  the  homes  scattered ;  the 
schoolhouse  was  only  a  sprig  on  the  vast  face  of 
a  world  of  elk  and  bear  and  uncertain  Indians; 
but  that  night,  when  the  earth  near  the  fire  was 
littered  with  the  cow-punchers'  beds,  the  Virgin 
ian  was  heard  drawling  to  himself :  "  Alfred  and* 
Christopher.  Oh,  sugar !  " 

They  found  pleasure  in  the  delicately  chosen 
shade  of  this  oath.  He  also  recited  to  them  a 
new  verse  about  how  he  took  his  Looloo  girl  to 
the  schoolhouse  for  to  learn  her  ABC;  and  as 
it  was  quite  original  and  unprintable,  the  camp 
laughed  and  swore  joyfully,  and  rolled  in  its 
blankets  to  sleep  under  the  stars. 

Upon  a  Monday  noon  likewise  (for  things  will 
happen  so)  some  tearful  people  in  petticoats  waved 
handkerchiefs  at  a  train  that  was  just  leaving  Ben- 
nington,  Vermont.  A  girl's  face  smiled  back  at 
them  once,  and  withdrew  quickly,  for  they  must 
not  see  the  smile  die  away. 

She  had  with  her  a  little  money,  a  few  clothes, 


THE   SPINSTER   MEETS   THE   UNKNOWN       99 

and  in  her  mind  a  rigid  determination  neither  to 
be  a  burden  to  her  mother  nor  to  give  in  to  that 
mother's  desires.  Absence  alone  would  enable 
her  to  carry  out  this  determination.  Beyond 
these  things,  she  possessed  not  much  except 
spelling-books,  a  colonial  miniature,  and  that 
craving  for  the  unknown  which  has  been  men 
tioned.  If  the  ancestors  that  we  carry  shut  up 
inside  us  take  turns  in  dictating  to  us  our  actions 
and  our  state  of  mind,  undoubtedly  Grandmother 
Stark  was  empress  of  Molly's  spirit  upon  this 
Monday. 

At  Hoosic  Junction,  which  came  soon,  she 
passed  the  up-train  bound  back  to  her  home,  and 
seeing  the  engineer  and  the  conductor,  —  faces  that 
she  knew  well,  —  her  courage  nearly  failed  her,  and 
she  shut  her  eyes  against  this  glimpse  of  the 
familiar  things  that  she  was  leaving.  To  keep 
herself  steady  she  gripped  tightly  a  little  bunch 
of  flowers  in  her  hand. 

But  something  caused  her  eyes  to  open ;  and 
there  before  her  stood  Sam  Bannett,  asking  if  he 
might  accompany  her  so  far  as  Rotterdam  Junction. 

"  No ! "  she  told  him  with  a  severity  born  from 
the  struggle  she  was  making  with  her  grief.  "  Not 
a  mile  with  me.  Not  to  Eagle  Bridge.  Good- 
by." 

And  Sam — what  did  he  do?  He  obeyed  her. 
I  should  like  to  be  sorry  for  him.  But  obedience 
was  not  a  lover's  part  here.  He  hesitated,  the 
golden  moment  hung  hovering,  the  conductor 
cried  "  All  aboard  ! "  the  train  went,  and  there 
on  the  platform  stood  obedient  Sam,  with  his 
golden  moment  gone  like  a  butterfly. 


too  THE   VIRGINIAN 

After  Rotterdam  Junction,  which  was  some  forty 
minutes  farther,  Molly  Wood  sat  bravely  up  in 
the  through  car,  dwelling  upon  the  unknown. 
She  thought  that  she  had  attained  it  in  Ohio, 
on  Tuesday  morning,  and  wrote  a  letter  about  it 
to  Bennington.  On  Wednesday  afternoon  she 
felt  sure,  and  wrote  a  letter  much  more  pictur 
esque.  But  on  the  following  day,  after  breakfast 
at  North  Platte,  Nebraska,  she  wrote  a  very  long 
letter  indeed,  and  told  them  that  she  had  seen  a 
black  pig  on  a  white  pile  of  buffalo  bones,  catch 
ing  drops  of  water  in  the  air  as  they  fell  from  the 
railroad  tank.  She  also  wrote  that  trees  were 
extraordinarily  scarce.  Each  hour  westward  from 
the  pig  confirmed  this  opinion,  and  when  she  left 
the  train  at  Rock  Creek,  late  upon  that  fourth 
night,  —  in  those  days  the  trains  were  slower,  — • 
she  knew  that  she  had  really  attained  the  un 
known,  and  sent  an  expensive  telegram  to  say 
that  she  was  quite  well. 

At  six  in  the  morning  the  stage  drove  away 
into  the  sage-brush,  with  her  as  its  only  passenger ; 
and  by  sundown  she  had  passed  through  some  of 
the  primitive  perils  of  the  world.  The  second 
team,  virgin  to  harness,  and  displeased  with  this 
novelty,  tried  to  take  it  off,  and  went  down  to  the 
bottom  of  a  gully  on  its  eight  hind  legs,  while 
Miss  Wood  sat  mute  and  unflinching  beside  the 
driver.  Therefore  he,  when  it  was  over,  and  they 
on  the  proper  road  again,  invited  her  earnestly  to 
be  his  wife  during  many  of  the  next  fifteen  miles, 
and  told  her  of  his  snug  cabin  and  his  horses  and 
his  mine.  Then  she  got  down  and  rode  inside, 
Independence  and  Grandmother  Stark  shining  in 


THE   SPINSTER   MEETS  THE  UNKNOWN      101 

her  eye.  At  Point  of  Rocks,  where  they  had 
supper  and  his  drive  ended,  her  face  distracted 
his  heart,  and  he  told  her  once  more  about  his 
cabin,  and  lamentably  hoped  she  would  remember 
him.  She  answered  sweetly  that  she  would  try, 
and  gave  him  her  hand.  After  all,  he  was  a  frank- 
looking  boy,  who  had  paid  her  the  highest  compli 
ment  that  a  boy  (or  a  man  for  that  matter)  knows ; 
and  it  is  said  that  Molly  Stark,  in  her  day,  was  not 
a  New  Woman. 

The  new  driver  banished  the  first  one  from  the 
maiden's  mind.  He  was  not  a  frank -looking  boy, 
and  he  had  been  taking  whiskey.  All  night  long 
he  took  it,  while  his  passenger,  helpless  and  sleep 
less  inside  the  lurching  stage,  sat  as  upright  as 
she  possibly  could ;  nor  did  the  voices  that  she 
heard  at  Drybone  reassure  her.  Sunrise  found 
the  white  stage  lurching  eternally  on  across  the 
alkali,  with  a  driver  and  a  bottle  on  the  box,  and 
a  pale  girl  staring  out  at  the  plain,  and  knotting 
in  her  handkerchief  some  utterly  dead  flowers. 
They  came  to  a  river  where  the  man  bungled 
over  the  ford.  Two  wheels  sank  down  over  an 
edge,  and  the  canvas  toppled  like  a  descending 
kite.  The  ripple  came  sucking  through  the  upper 
spokes,  and  as  she  felt  the  seat  careen,  she  put  out 
her  head  and  tremulously  asked  if  anything  was 
wrong.  But  the  driver  was  addressing  his  team 
with  much  language,  and  also  with  the  lash. 

Then  a  tall  rider  appeared  close  against  the 
buried  axles,  and  took  her  out  of  the  stage  on  his 
horse  so  suddenly  that  she  screamed.  She  felt 
splashes,  saw  a  swimming  flood,  and  found  herself 
lifted  down  upon  the  shore.  The  rider  said  some- 


102  THE  VIRGINIAN 

thing  to  her  about  cheering  up,  and  its  being  all 
right,  but  her  wits  were  stock-still,  so  she  did  not 
speak  and  thank  him.  After  four  days  of  train 
and  thirty  hours  of  stage,  she  was  having  a  little 
too  much  of  the  unknown  at  once.  Then  the  tall 
man  gently  withdrew,  leaving  her  to  become  her 
self  again.  She  limply  regarded  the  river  pouring 
round  the  slanted  stage,  and  a  number  of  horse 
men  with  ropes,  who  righted  the  vehicle,  and  got 
it  quickly  to  dry  land,  and  disappeared  at  once 
with  a  herd  of  cattle,  uttering  lusty  yells. 

She  saw  the  tall  one  delaying  beside  the  driver, 
and  speaking.  He  spoke  so  quietly  that  not  a  word 
reached  her,  until  of  a  sudden  the  driver  protested 
loudly.  The  man  had  thrown  something,  which 
turned  out  to  be  a  bottle.  This  twisted  loftily 
and  dived  into  the  stream.  He  said  something 
more  to  the  driver,  then  put  his  hand  on  the  sad 
dle-horn,  looked  half-lingeringly  at  the  passenger 
on  the  bank,  dropped  his  grave  eyes  from  hers, 
and  swinging  upon  his  horse,  was  gone  just  as  the 
passenger  opened  her  mouth  and  with  inefficient 
voice  murmured,  "  Oh,  thank  you  !  "  at  his  depart 
ing  back. 

The  driver  drove  up  now,  a  chastened  creature. 
He  helped  Miss  Wood  in,  and  inquired  after  her 
welfare  with  a  hanging  head  ;  then  meek  as  his 
own  drenched  horses,  he  climbed  back  to  his 
reins,  and  nursed  the  stage  on  toward  the  Bow 
Leg  Mountains  much  as  if  it  had  been  a  peram 
bulator. 

As  for  Miss  Wood,  she  sat  recovering,  and  she 
wondered  what  the  man  on  the  horse  must  think 
of  her.  She  knew  that  she  was  not  ungrateful, 


THE  SPINSTER   MEETS  THE   UNKNOWN      103 

and  that  if  he  had  given  her  an  opportunity  she 
would  have  explained  to  him.  If  he  supposed  that 
she  did  not  appreciate  his  act —  Here  into  the 
midst  of  these  meditations  came  an  abrupt  mem 
ory  that  she  had  screamed  —  she  could  not  be 
sure  when.  She  rehearsed  the  adventure  from 
the  beginning,  and  found  one  or  two  further  un 
certainties —  how  it  had  all  been  while  she  was 
on  the  horse,  for  instance.  It  was  confusing 
to  determine  precisely  what  she  had  done  with 
her  arms.  She  knew  where  one  of  his  arms  had 
been.  And  the  handkerchief  with  the  flowers 
was  gone.  She  made  a  few  rapid  dives  in  search 
of  it.  Had  she,  or  had  she  not,  seen  him  putting 
something  in  his  pocket?  And  why  had  she 
behaved  so  unlike  herself?  In  a  few  miles  Miss 
Wood  entertained  sentiments  of  maidenly  resent 
ment  toward  her  rescuer,  and  of  maidenly  hope 
to  see  him  again. 

To  that  river  crossing  he  came  again,  alone, 
when  the  days  were  growing  short.  The  ford 
was  dry  sand,  and  the  stream  a  winding  lane  of 
shingle.  He  found  a  pool,  —  pools  always  sur 
vive  the  year  round  in  this  stream,  —  and  having 
watered  his  pony,  he  lunched  near  the  spot  to 
which  he  had  borne  the  frightened  passenger 
that  day.  Where  the  flowing  current  had  been, 
he  sat,  regarding  the  now  extremely  safe  channel. 

"  She  cert'nly  wouldn't  need  to  grip  me  so 
close  this  mawnin',"  he  said,  as  he  pondered  over 
his  meal.  "  I  reckon  it  will  mightily  astonish 
her  when  I  tell  her  how  harmless  the  torrent 
is  lookin'."  He  held  out  to  his  pony  a  slice  of 


104  THE  VIRGINIAN 

bread  matted  with  sardines,  which  the  pony 
expertly  accepted.  "  You're  a  plumb  pie-biter, 
you  Monte,"  he  continued.  Monte  rubbed  his 
nose  on  his  master's  shoulder.  "  I  wouldn't 
trust  you  with  berries  and  cream.  No,  seh ; 
not  though  yu'  did  rescue  a  drownin'  lady." 

Presently  he  tightened  the  forward  cinch,  got 
in  the  saddle,  and  the  pony  fell  into  his  wise 
mechanical  jog;  for  he  had  come  a  long  way, 
and  was  going  a  long  way,  and  he  knew  this 
as  well  as  the  man  did. 

To  use  the  language  of  Cattle  Land,  steers 
had  "jumped  to  seventy-five."  This  was  a  great 
and  prosperous  leap  in  their  value.  To  have 
flourished  in  that  golden  time  you  need  not  be 
dead  now,  nor  even  middle-aged ;  but  it  is 
Wyoming  mythology  already  —  quite  as  fabulous 
as  the  high-jumping  cow.  Indeed,  people  gath 
ered  together  and  behaved  themselves  much  in 
the  same  pleasant  and  improbable  way.  John 
son  'County,  and  Natrona,  and  Converse,  and 
others,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Cheyenne  Club, 
had  been  jumping  over  the  moon  for  some 
weeks,  all  on  account  of  steers ;  and  on  the 
strength  of  this  vigorous  price  of  seventy-five, 
the  Swinton  Brothers  were  giving  a  barbecue 
at  the  Goose  Egg  outfit,  their  ranch  on  Bear 
Creek.  Of  course  the  whole  neighborhood  was 
bidden,  and  would  come  forty  miles  to  a  man ; 
some  would  come  further  —  the  Virginian  was 
coming  a  hundred  and  eighteen.  It  had  struck 
him  —  rather  suddenly,  as  shall  be  made  plain  — 
that  he  should  like  to  see  how  they  were  getting 
along  up  there  on  Bear  Creek.  "  They,"  was 


THE   SPINSTER   MEETS  THE   UNKNOWN     105 

how  he  put  it  to  his  acquaintances.  His 
acquaintances  did  not  know  that  he  had  bought 
himself  a  pair  of  trousers  and  a  scarf,  unneces 
sarily  excellent  for  such  a  general  visit.  They 
did  not  know  that  in  the  spring,  two  days  after 
the  adventure  with  the  stage,  he  had  learned 
accidentally  who  the  lady  in  the  stage  was.  This 
he  had  kept  to  himself ;  nor  did  the  camp  ever 
notice  that  he  had  ceased  to  sing  that  eightieth 
stanza  he  had  made  about  the  ABC  —  the  stanza 
which  was  not  printable.  He  effaced  it  imper 
ceptibly,  giving  the  boys  the  other  seventy-nine 
at  judicious  intervals.  They  dreamed  of  no 
guile,  but  merely  saw  in  him,  whether  frequent 
ing  camp  or  town,  the  same  not  overangelic 
comrade  whom  they  valued  and  could  not  wholly 
understand. 

All  spring  he  had  ridden  trail,  worked  at  ditches 
during  summer,  and  now  he  had  just  finished 
with  the  beef  round-up.  Yesterday,  while  he  was 
spending  a  little  comfortable  money  at  the  Dry- 
bone  hog-ranch,  a  casual  traveller  from  the  north 
gossiped  of  Bear  Creek,  and  the  fences  up  there, 
and  the  farm  crops,  the  Westfalls,  and  the  young 
schoolmarm  from  Vermont,  for  whom  the  Tay 
lors  had  built  a  cabin  next  door  to  theirs.  The 
traveller  had  not  seen  her,  but  Mrs.  Taylor  and 
all  the  ladies  thought  the  world  of  her,  and  Lin 
McLean  had  told  him  she  was  "  away  up  in  G." 
She  would  have  plenty  of  partners  at  this  Swinton 
barbecue.  Great  boom  for  the  country,  wasn't  it, 
steers  jumping  that  way? 

The  Virginian  heard,  asking  no  questions ;  and 
left  town  in  an  hour,  with  the  scarf  and  trousers 


106  THE  VIRGINIAN 

tied  in  his  slicker  behind  his  saddle.  After  look 
ing  upon  the  ford  again,  even  though  it  was  dry 
and  not  at  all  the  same  place,  he  journeyed  in 
attentively.  When  you  have  been  hard  at  work 
for  months  with  no  time  to  think,  of  course  you 
think  a  great  deal  during  your  first  empty  days. 
"Step  along,  you  Monte  hawss ! "  he  said,  rous 
ing  after  some  while.  He  disciplined  Monte, 
who  flattened  his  ears  affectedly  and  snorted. 
"  Why,  you  surely  ain'  thinkin'  of  you'-self  as  a 
hero  ?  She  wasn't  really  a-drowndin',  you  pie- 
biter."  He  rested  his  serious  glance  upon  the 
alkali.  "She's  not  likely  to  have  forgot  that 
mix-up,  though.  I  guess  I'll  not  remind  her  about 
grippin'  me,  and  all  that.  She  wasn't  the  kind  a 
man  ought  to  josh  about  such  things.  She  had 
a  right  clear  eye."  Thus,  tall  and  loose  in  the 
saddle,  did  he  jog  along  the  sixty  miles  which 
still  lay  between  him  and  the  dance. 


X 

WHERE    FANCY    WAS    BRED 

Two  camps  in  the  open,  and  the  Virginian's 
Monte  horse,  untired,  brought  him  to  the  Swin- 
tons'  in  good  time  for  the  barbecue.  The  horse 
received  good  food  at  length,  while  his  rider  was 
welcomed  with  good  whiskey.  Good  whiskey  — 
for  had  not  steers  jumped  to  seventy-five  ? 

Inside  the  Goose  Egg  kitchen  many  small  deli 
cacies  were  preparing,  and  a  steer  was  roasting  whole 
outside.  The  bed  of  flame  under  it  showed  stead 
ily  brighter  against  the  dusk  that  was  beginning 
to  veil  the  lowlands.  The  busy  hosts  went  and 
came,  while  men  stood  and  men  lay  near  the  fire- 
glow.  Chalkeye  was  there,  and  Nebrasky,  and 
Trampas,  and  Honey  Wiggin,  with  others,  enjoy 
ing  the  occasion;  but  Honey  Wiggin  was  enjoy 
ing  himself:  he  had  an  audience;  he  was  sitting 
up  discoursing  to  it. 

"  Hello !  "  he  said,  perceiving  the  Virginian. 
"  So  you've  dropped  in  for  your  turn  !  Number  — 
six,  ain't  he,  boys  ?  " 

"  Depends  who's  a-runnin'  the  countin',"  said 
the  Virginian,  and  stretched  himself  down  among 
the  audience. 

"  I've  saw  him  number  one  when  nobody  else 
was  around,"  said  Trampas. 

107 


io8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  How  far  away  was  you  standin'  when  you  be 
held  that  ?  "  inquired  the  lounging  Southerner. 

"  Well,  boys,"  said  Wiggin,  "  I  expect  it  will  be 
Miss  Schoolmarm  says  who's  number  one  to 
night." 

"  So  she's  arrived  in  this  hyeh  country  ? "  ob 
served  the  Virginian,  very  casually. 

"  Arrived  !  "  said  Trampas  again.  "  Where 
have  you  been  grazing  lately  ?  " 

"  A  right  smart  way  from  the  mules." 

"  Nebrasky  and  the  boys  was  tellin'  me  they'd 
missed  yu'  off  the  range,"  again  interposed  Wig- 
gin.  "  Say,  Nebrasky,  who  have  yu'  offered  your 
canary  to  the  schoolmarm  said  you  mustn't  give 
her  ? " 

Nebrasky  grinned  wretchedly. 

"  Well,  she's  a  lady,  and  she's  square,  not  takin' 
a  man's  gift  when  she  don't  take  the  man.  But 
you'd  ought  to  get  back  all  them  letters  yu'  wrote 
her.  Yu'  sure  ought  to  ask  her  for  them  tell 
tales." 

"  Ah,  pshaw,  Honey !  "  protested  the  youth. 
It  was  well  known  that  he  could  not  write  his 
name. 

"  Why,  if  here  ain't  Bokay  Baldy ! "  cried  the 
agile  Wiggin,  stooping  to  fresh  prey.  "  Found 
them  slippers  yet,  Baldy?  Tell  yu'  boys,  that 
was  turruble  sad  luck  Baldy  had.  Did  yu'  hear 
about  that  ?  Baldy,  yu'  know,  he  can  stay  on  a 
tame  horse  most  as  well  as  the  schoolmarm.  But 
just  you  give  him  a  pair  of  young  knittin'-needles 
and  see  him  make  'em  sweat !  He  worked  an 
elegant  pair  of  slippers  with  pink  cabbages  on  'em 
for  Miss  Wood." 


WHERE   FANCY   WAS   BRED  109 

"  I  bought  'em  at  Medicine  Bow,"  blundered 
Baldy. 

"  So  yu'  did ! "  assented  the  skilful  comedian. 
"  Baldy  he  bought  'em.  And  on  the  road  to  her 
cabin  there  at  the  Taylors'  he  got  thinkin'  they 
might  be  too  big,  and  he  got  studyin'  what  to  do. 
And  he  fixed  up  to  tell  her  about  his  not  bein'  sure 
of  the  size,  and  how  she  was  to  let  him  know  if  they 
dropped  off  her,  and  he'd  exchange'  em,  and  when 
he  got  right  near  her  door,  why,  he  couldn't  find  his 
courage.  And  so  he  slips  the  parcel  under  the 
fence  and  starts  serenadin'  her.  But  she  ain't  in 
side  her  cabin  at  all.  She's  at  supper  next  door 
with  the  Taylors,  and  Baldy  singin'  '  Love  has 
conqwered  pride  and  angwer '  to  a  lone  house. 
Lin  McLean  was  comin'  up  by  Taylor's  corral, 
where  Taylor's  Texas  bull  was.  Well,  it  was  tur- 
ruble  sad.  Baldy's  pants  got  tore,  but  he  fell 
inside  the  fence,  and  Lin  druv  the  bull  back  and 
somebody  stole  them  Medicine  Bow  goloshes. 
Are  you  goin'  to  knit  her  some  more,  Bokay  ? " 

"About  half  that  ain't  straight,"  Baldy  com 
mented,  with  mildness. 

"  The  half  that  was  tore  off  yer  pants  ?  Well, 
never  mind,  Baldy ;  Lin  will  get  left  too,  same  as 
all  of  yu'." 

"  Is  there  many  ?  "  inquired  the  Virginian.  He 
was  still  stretched  on  his  back,  looking  up  at  the  sky. 

"  I  don't  know  how  many  she's  been  used  to 
where  she  was  raised,"  Wiggin  answered.  "  A  kid 
stage-driver  come  from  Point  of  Rocks  one  day 
and  went  back  the  next.  Then  the  foreman  of 
the  76  outfit,  and  the  horse-wrangler  from  the  Bar- 
Circle-L,  and  two  deputy  marshals,  with  punchers, 


no  THE   VIRGINIAN 

stringin'  right  along,  —  all  got  their  tumble.  Old 
Judge  Burragefrom  Cheyenne  come  up  in  August 
for  a  hunt  and  stayed  round  here  and  never  hunted 
at  all.  There  was  that  horse  thief  —  awful  good- 
lookin'.  Taylor  wanted  to  warn  her  about  him,  but 
Mrs.  Taylor  said  she'd  look  after  her  if  it  was 
needed.  Mr.  Horse -thief  gave  it  up  quicker 
than  most ;  but  the  schoolmarm  couldn't  have 
knowed  he  had  a  Mrs.  Horse-thief  camped  on  Poi 
son  Spider  till  afterwards.  She  wouldn't  go  ridin' 
with  him.  She'll  go  with  some,  takin'  a  kid  along." 

"  Bah  !  "  said  Trampas. 

The  Virginian  stopped  looking  at  the  sky,  and 
watched  Trampas  from  where  he  lay. 

"  I  think  she  encourages  a  man  some,"  said 
poor  Nebrasky. 

"  Encourages  ?  Because  she  lets  yu'  teach  her 
how  to  shoot  ?  "  said  Wiggin.  "  Well  —  I  don't 
guess  I'm  a  judge.  I've  always  kind  o'  kep'  away 
from  them  good  women.  Don't  seem  to  think  of 
anything  to  chat  about  to  'em.  The  only  folks 
I'd  say  she  encourages  is  the  school  kids.  She 
kisses  them." 

"  Riding  and  shooting  and  kissing  the  kids," 
sneered  Trampas.  "  That's  a  heap  too  pussy- 
kitten  for  me." 

They  laughed.  The  sage-brush  audience  is 
readily  cynical. 

"  Look  for  the  man,  I  say,"  Trampas  pursued. 
"  And  ain't  he  there  ?  She  leaves  Baldy  sit  on 
the  fence  while  she  and  Lin  McLean  —  " 

They  laughed  loudly  at  the  blackguard  picture 
which  he  drew ;  and  the  laugh  stopped  short,  for 
the  Virginian  stood  over  Trampas. 


WHERE   FANCY   WAS   BRED  in 

"  You  can  rise  up  now,  and  tell  them  you  lie," 
he  said. 

The  man  was  still  for  a  moment  in  the  dead 
silence.  "  I  thought  you  claimed  you  and  her 
wasn't  acquainted,"  said  he  then. 

"  Stand  on  your  laigs,  you  polecat,  and  say 
you're  a  liar ! " 

Trampas's  hand  moved  behind  him. 

"  Quit  that,"  said  the  Southerner,  "  or  I'll  break 
your  neck ! " 

The  eye  of  a  man  is  the  prince  of  deadly 
weapons.  Trampas  looked  in  the  Virginian's, 
and  slowly  rose.  "  I  didn't  mean  — "  he  began, 
and  paused,  his  face  poisonously  bloated. 

"  Well,  I'll  call  that  sufficient.  Keep  a-standin' 
still.  I  ain'  going  to  trouble  yu'  long.  In  ad- 
mittin'  yourself  to  be  a  liar  you  have  spoke  God's 
truth  for  onced.  Honey  Wiggin,  you  and  me 
and  the  boys  have  hit  town  too  frequent  for  any 
of  us  to  play  Sunday  on  the  balance  of  the  gang." 
He  stopped  and  surveyed  Public  Opinion,  seated 
around  in  carefully  inexpressive  attention.  "  We 
ain't  a  Christian  outfit  a  little  bit,  and  maybe  we 
have  most  forgotten  what  decency  feels  like.  But 
I  reckon  we  haven't  plumb  forgot  what  it  means. 
You  can  sit  down  now,  if  you  want." 

The  liar  stood  and  sneered  experimentally, 
looking  at  Public  Opinion.  But  this  changeful 
deity  was  no  longer  with  him,  and  he  heard  it 
variously  assenting,  "  That's  so,"  and  "  She's  a 
lady,"  and  otherwise  excellently  moralizing.  So 
he  held  his  peace.  When,  however,  the  Virginian 
had  departed  to  the  roasting  steer,  and  Public 
Opinion  relaxed  into  that  comfort  which  we  all 


«ii2  THE  VIRGINIAN 

experience  when  the  sermon  ends,  Trampas  sat 
down  amid  the  reviving  cheerfulness,  and  ventured 
again  to  be  facetious. 

"  Shut  your  rank  mouth,"  said  Wiggin  to  him, 
amiably.  "  I  don't  care  whether  he  knows  her  or 
if  he  done  it  on  principle.  I'll  accept  the  roundin' 
up  he  gave  us  —  and  say  !  you'll  swallo'  your  dose, 
too !  Us  boys '11  stand  in  with  him  in  this." 

So  Trampas  swallowed.  And  what  of  the  Vir 
ginian  ? 

He  had  championed  the  feeble,  and  spoken 
honorably  in  meeting,  and  according  to  all  the 
constitutions  and  by-laws  of  morality,  he  should 
have  been  walking  in  virtue's  especial  calm.  But 
there  it  was !  he  had  spoken ;  he  had  given  them 
a  peep  through  the  key-hole  at  his  inner  man ; 
and  as  he  prowled  away  from  the  assemblage 
before  whom  he  stood  convicted  of  decency,  it 
was  vicious  rather  than  virtuous  that  he  felt. 
Other  matters  also  disquieted  him  —  so  Lin 
McLean  was  hanging  round  that  schoolmarm ! 
Yet  he  joined  Ben  Swinton  in  a  seemingly  Chris 
tian  spirit.  He  took  some  whiskey  and  praised  the 
size  of  the  barrel,  speaking  with  his  host  like  this:  — 

"  There  cert'nly  ain'  goin'  to  be  trouble  about 
a  second  helpin'." 

"  Hope  not.  We'd  ought  to  have  more  trim 
mings,  though.  We're  shy  on  ducks." 

"Yu1  have  the  barrel.  Has  Lin  McLean  seen 
that  ? " 

"  No.  We  tried  for  ducks  away  down  as  far  as 
the  Laparel  outfit.  A  real  barbecue  —  " 

"  There's  large  thirsts  on  Bear  Creek.  Lin 
McLean  will  pass  on  ducks." 


WHERE   FANCY  WAS   BRED  113 

"  Lin's  not  thirsty  this  month." 

"  Signed  for  one  month,  has  he  ?  " 

"  Signed !     He's  spooning  our  schoolmarm  !  " 

"  They  claim  she's  a  right  sweet-faced  girl." 

"  Yes ;  yes ;  awful  agreeable.  And  next  thing 
you're  fooled  clean  through." 

"Yu'  don't  say!" 

"  She  keeps  a-teaching  the  darned  kids,  and  it 
seems  like  a  good  growed-up  man  can't  interest 
her." 

"Yu"  dorit  say!" 

"  There  used  to  be  all  the  ducks  you  wanted  at 
the  Laparel,  but  their  fool  cook's  dead  stuck  on 
raising  turkeys  this  year." 

"  That  must  have  been  mighty  close  to  a 
drowndin'  the  schoolmarm  got  at  South  Fork." 

"  Why,  I  guess  not.  When  ?  She's  never 
spoken  of  any  such  thing  —  that  I've  heard." 

"  Mos'  likely  the  stage-driver  got  it  wrong, 
then." 

"  Yes.  Must  have  drownded  somebody  else. 
Here  they  come !  That's  her  ridin'  the  horse. 
There's  the  Westfalls.  Where  are  you  run 
ning  to?" 

"  To  fix  up.     Got  any  soap  around  hyeh  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  shouted  Swinton,  for  the  Virginian  was 
now  some  distance  away ;  "  towels  and  everything 
in  the  dugout."  And  he  went  to  welcome  his 
first  formal  guests. 

The  Virginian  reached  his  saddle  under  a  shed. 
"  So  she's  never  mentioned  it,"  said  he,  untying 
his  slicker  for  the  trousers  and  scarf.  "  I  didn't 
notice  Lin  anywheres  around  her."  He  was  over 
in  the  dugout  now,  whipping  off  his  overalls  ;  and 


n4  THE  VIRGINIAN 

soon  he  was  excellently  clean  and  ready,  except 
for  the  tie  in  his  scarf  and  the  part  in  his  hair. 
"  I'd  have  knowed  her  in  Greenland,"  he  remarked. 
He  held  the  candle  up  and  down  at  the  looking- 
glass,  and  the  looking-glass  up  and  down  at  his 
head.  "  It's  mighty  strange  why  she  ain't  men 
tioned  that."  He  worried  the  scarf  a  fold  or  two 
further,  and  at  length,  a  trifle  more  than  satisfied 
with  his  appearance,  he  proceeded  most  serenely 
toward  the  sound  of  the  tuning  fiddles.  He 
passed  through  the  store-room  behind  the  kitchen, 
stepping  lightly  lest  he  should  rouse  the  ten  or 
twelve  babies  that  lay  on  the  table  or  beneath  it. 
On  Bear  Creek  babies  and  children  always  went 
with  their  parents  to  a  dance,  because  nurses  were 
unknown.  So  little  Alfred  and  Christopher  lay 
there  among  the  wraps,  parallel  and  crosswise 
with  little  Taylors,  and  little  Carmodys,  and  Lees, 
and  all  the  Bear  Creek  offspring  that  was  not  yet 
able  to  skip  at  large  and  hamper  its  indulgent 
elders  in  the  ball-room. 

"  Why,  Lin  ain't  hyeh  yet ! "  said  the  Virginian, 
looking  in  upon  the  people.  There  was  Miss 
Wood,  standing  up  for  the  quadrille.  "  I  didn't 
remember  her  hair  was  that  pretty,"  said  he. 
"  But  ain't  she  a  little,  little  girl ! " 

Now  she  was  in  truth  five  feet  three ;  but  then 
he  could  look  away  down  on  the  top  of  her  head. 

"  Salute  your  honey ! "  called  the  first  fiddler. 
All  partners  bowed  to  each  other,  and  as  she 
turned,  Miss  Wood  saw  the  man  in  the  doorway. 
Again,  as  it  had  been  at  South  Fork  that  day,  his 
eyes  dropped  from  hers,  and  she  divining  instantly 
why  he  had  come  after  half  a  year,  thought  of  the 


WHERE   FANCY   WAS  BRED  115 

handkerchief  and  of  that  scream  of  hers  in  the 
river,  and  became  filled  with  tyranny  and  antici 
pation  ;  for  indeed  he  was  fine  to  look  upon. 
So  she  danced  away,  carefully  unaware  of  his 
existence. 

"  First  lady,  centre  !  "  said  her  partner,  remind 
ing  her  of  her  turn.  "  Have  you  forgotten  how  it 
goes  since  last  time  ?  " 

Molly  Wood  did  not  forget  again,  but  qua- 
drilled  with  the  most  sprightly  devotion. 

"  I  see  some  new  faces  to-night,"  said  she, 
presently. 

"  Yu'  always  do  forget  our  poor  faces,"  said  her 
partner. 

"  Oh,  no !  There's  a  stranger  now.  Who  is 
that  black  man  ?  " 

"  Well  —  he's  from  Virginia,  and  he  ain't 
allowin'  he's  black." 

"  He's  a  tenderfoot,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"Ha,  ha,  ha!  That's  rich,  too!"  and  so  the 
simple  partner  explained  a  great  deal  about  the 
Virginian  to  Molly  Wood.  At  the  end  of  the  set 
she  saw  the  man  by  the  door  take  a  step  in  her 
direction. 

"  Oh,"  said  she,  quickly,  to  the  partner,  "  how 
warm  it  is !  I  must  see  how  those  babies  are 
doing."  And  she  passed  the  Virginian  in  a 
breeze  of  unconcern. 

His  eyes  gravely  lingered  where  she  had  gone. 
"  She  knowed  me  right  away,"  said  he.  He 
looked  for  a  moment,  then  leaned  against  the 
door.  " '  How  warm  it  is ! '  said  she.  Well,  it 
ain't  so  screechin'  hot  hyeh ;  and  as  for  rushin' 
after  Alfred  and  Christopher,  when  their  natural 


n6  THE   VIRGINIAN 

motheh  is  bumpin'  around  handy  —  she  cert'nly 
can't  be  offended  ? "  he  broke  off,  and  looked 
again  where  she  had  gone.  And  then  Miss  Wood 
passed  him  brightly  again,  and  was  dancing  the 
schottische  almost  immediately.  "  Oh,  yes,  she 
knows  me,"  the  swarthy  cow-puncher  mused. 
"  She  has  to  take  trouble  not  to  see  me.  And 
what  she's  a-fussin'  at  is  mighty  interesting 
Hello ! " 

"Hello!"  returned  Lin  McLean,  sourly.  He 
had  just  looked  into  the  kitchen. 

"  Not  dancin'  ?  "  the  Southerner  inquired. 

"  Don't  know  how." 

"  Had  scyarlet  fever  and  forgot  your  past  life  ?  " 

Lin  grinned. 

"  Better  persuade  the  schoolmarm  to  learn  yu'. 
She's  goin'  to  give  me  instruction." 

"  Huh  !  "  went  Mr.  McLean,  and  skulked  out  to 
the  barrel. 

"  Why,  they  claimed  you  weren't  drinkin'  this 
month !  "  said  his  friend,  following. 

"  Well,  I  am.  Here's  luck !  "  The  two  pledged 
in  tin  cups.  "  But  I'm  not  waltzin'  with  her," 
blurted  Mr.  McLean  grievously.  "  She  called 
me  an  exception." 

"  Waltzin',"  repeated  the  Virginian  quickly,  and 
hearing  the  fiddles  he  hastened  away. 

Few  in  the  Bear  Creek  Country  could  waltz, 
and  with  these  few  it  was  mostly  an  unsteered 
and  ponderous  exhibition ;  therefore  was  the 
Southerner  bent  upon  profiting  by  his  skill.  He 
entered  the  room,  and  his  lady  saw  him  come 
where  she  sat  alone  for  the  moment,  and  her 
thoughts  grew  a  little  hurried. 


WHERE   FANCY   WAS   BRED  117 

"  Will  you  try  a  turn,  ma'am  ?  " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon  ? "  It  was  a  remote,  well- 
schooled  eye  that  she  lifted  now  upon  him. 

"  If  you  like  a  waltz,  ma'am,  will  you  waltz  with 
me?" 

"  You're  from  Virginia,  I  understand  ? "  said 
Molly  Wood,  regarding  him  politely,  but  not  ris 
ing.  One  gains  authority  immensely  by  keeping 
one's  seat.  All  good  teachers  know  this. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  from  Virginia." 

"  I've  heard  that  Southerners  have  such  good 
manners." 

"  That's  correct."  The  cow-puncher  flushed, 
but  he  spoke  in  his  unvaryingly  gentle  voice. 

"  For  in  New  England,  you  know,"  pursued 
Miss  Molly,  noting  his  scarf  and  clean-shaven 
chin,  and  then  again  steadily  meeting  his  eye, 
"gentlemen  ask  to  be  presented  to  ladies  before 
they  ask  them  to  waltz." 

He  stood  a  moment  before  her,  deeper  and 
deeper  scarlet;  and  the  more  she  saw  his  hand 
some  face,  the  keener  rose  her  excitement.  She 
waited  for  him  to  speak  of  the  river ;  for  then  she 
was  going  to  be  surprised,  and  gradually  to  re 
member,  and  finally  to  be  very  nice  to  him.  But 
he  did  not  wait.  "  I  ask  your  pardon,  lady,"  said 
he,  and  bowing,  walked  off,  leaving  her  at  once 
afraid  that  he  might  not  come  back.  But  she 
had  altogether  mistaken  her  man.  Back  he 
came  serenely  with  Mr.  Taylor,  and  was  duly 
presented  to  her.  Thus  were  the  conventions 
vindicated. 

It  can  never  be  known  what  the  cow-puncher 
was  going  to  say  next ;  for  Uncle  Hughey  stepped 


n8  THE  VIRGINIAN 

up  with  a  glass  of  water  which  he  had  left  Miss 
Wood  to  bring,  and  asking  for  a  turn,  most  gra 
ciously  received  it.  She  danced  away  from  a 
situation  where  she  began  to  feel  herself  getting 
the  worst  of  it.  One  moment  the  Virginian 
stared  at  his  lady  as  she  lightly  circulated,  and 
then  he  went  out  to  the  barrel. 

Leave  him  for  Uncle  Hughey !  Jealousy  is  a 
deep  and  delicate  thing,  and  works  its  spite  in 
many  ways.  The  Virginian  had  been  ready  to 
look  at  Lin  McLean  with  a  hostile  eye ;  but 
finding  him  now  beside  the  barrel,  he  felt  a 
brotherhood  between  himself  and  Lin,  and  his 
hostility  had  taken  a  new  and  whimsical  direc 
tion. 

"  Here's  how !  "  said  he  to  McLean.  And  they 
pledged  each  other  in  the  tin  cups. 

"  Been  gettin'  them  instructions  ? "  said  Mr. 
McLean,  grinning.  "  I  thought  I  saw  yu'  learning 
your  steps  through  the  window." 

"  Here's  your  good  health,"  said  the  Southerner. 
Once  more  they  pledged  each  other  handsomely. 

"  Did  she  call  you  an  exception,  or  anything  ?  " 
said  Lin. 

"  Well,  it  would  cipher  out  right  close  in  that 
neighborhood." 

"  Here's  how,  then ! "  cried  the  delighted  Lin, 
over  his  cup. 

"Jest  because  yu'  happen  to  come  from  Ver 
mont,"  continued  Mr.  McLean,  "  is  no  cause  for 
extra  pride.  Shoo !  I  was  raised  in  Massachusetts 
myself,  and  big  men  have  been  raised  there,  too, 
—  Daniel  Webster  and  Israel  Putnam,  and  a  lot 
of  them  politicians." 


WHERE   FANCY  WAS   BRED  119 

"  Virginia  is  a  good  little  old  state,"  observed 
the  Southerner. 

"  Both  of  'em's  a  sight  ahead  of  Vermont.  She 
told  me  I  was  the  first  exception  she'd  struck." 

"  What  rule  were  you  provin'  at  the  time,  Lin  ?  " 

"  Well,  yu'  see,  I  started  to  kiss  her." 

"Yu'  didn't!" 

"  Shucks  !     I  didn't  mean  nothin'." 

"  I  reckon  yu'  stopped  mighty  sudden  ?  " 

"Why,  I'd  been  ridin'  out  with  her  —  ridin'  to 
school,  ridin'  from  school,  and  a-comin'  and  a-goin', 
and  she  chattin'  cheerful  and  askin'  me  a  heap  o' 
questions  all  about  myself  every  day,  and  I  not 
lyin'  much  neither.  And  so  I  figured  she  wouldn't 
mind.  Lots  of  'em  like  it.  But  she  didn't,  you 
bet!" 

"  No,"  said  the  Virginian,  deeply  proud  of  his 
lady  who  had  slighted  him.  He  had  pulled  her 
out  of  the  water  once,  and  he  had  been  her  unre 
warded  knight  even  to-day,  and  he  felt  his  griev 
ance  ;  but  he  spoke  not  of  it  to  Lin ;  for  he  felt 
also,  in  memory,  her  arms  clinging  round  him  as 
he  carried  her  ashore  upon  his  horse.  But  he 
muttered,  "  Plumb  ridiculous ! "  as  her  injustice 
struck  him-  afresh,  while  the  outraged  McLean 
told  his  tale. 

"  Trample  is  what  she  has  done  on  me  to-night, 
and  without  notice.  We  was  startin'  to  come 
here ;  Taylor  and  Mrs.  were  ahead  in  the  buggy, 
and  I  was  holdin'  her  horse,  and  helpin'  her  up 
in  the  saddle,  like  I  done  for  days  and  days. 
Who  was  there  to  see  us  ?  And  I  figured  she'd 
not  mind,  and  she  calls  me  an  exception !  Yu'd 
ought  to've  just  heard  her  about  Western  men 


120  THE   VIRGINIAN 

respectin'  women.  So  that's  the  last  word  we've 
spoke.  We  come  twenty-five  miles  then,  she 
scootin'  in  front,  and  her  horse  kickin'  the  sand 
in  my  face.  Mrs.  Taylor,  she  guessed  something 
was  up,  but  she  didn't  tell." 

"  Miss  Wood  did  not  tell  ?  " 

"  Not  she !  She'll  never  open  her  head.  She 
can  take  care  of  herself,  you  bet !  " 

The  fiddles  sounded  hilariously  in  the  house, 
and  the  feet  also.  They  had  warmed  up  altogether, 
and  their  dancing  figures  crossed  the  windows 
back  and  forth.  The  two  cow-punchers  drew 
near  to  a  window  and  looked  in  gloomily. 

"  There  she  goes,"  said  Lin. 

"  With  Uncle  Hughey  again,"  said  the  Virgin 
ian,  sourly.  "  Yu'  might  suppose  he  didn't  have 
a  wife  and  twins,  to  see  the  way  he  goes  gambollin' 
around." 

"  Westfall  is  takin'  a  turn  with  her  now,"  said 
McLean. 

"  James  !  "  exclaimed  the  Virginian.  "  He's 
another  with  a  wife  and  fam'ly,  and  he  gets  the 
dancin',  too." 

"  There  she  goes  with  Taylor,"  said  Lin, 
presently. 

"  Another  married  man  !  "  the  Southerner  com 
mented.  They  prowled  round  to  the  store-room, 
and  passed  through  the  kitchen  to  where  the 
dancers  were  robustly  tramping.  Miss  Wood  was 
still  the  partner  of  Mr.  Taylor.  "  Let's  have  some 
whiskey,"  said  the  Virginian.  They  had  it,  and 
returned,  and  the  Virginian's  disgust  and  sense 
of  injury  grew  deeper.  "  Old  Carmody  has  got 
her  now,"  he  drawled.  "  He  polkas  like  a  land- 


WHERE   FANCY   WAS   BRED  121 

slide.  She  learns  his  monkey-faced  kid  to  spell 
dog  and  cow  all  the  mawnin'.  He'd  ought  to  be 
tucked  up  cosey  in  his  bed  right  now,  old  Carmody 
ought." 

They  were  standing  in  that  place  set  apart  for 
the  sleeping  children ;  and  just  at  this  moment 
one  of  two  babies  that  were  stowed  beneath  a 
chair  uttered  a  drowsy  note.  A  much  louder 
cry,  indeed  a  chorus  of  lament,  would  have  been 
needed  to  reach  the  ears  of  the  parents  in  the 
room  beyond,  such  was  the  noisy  volume  of  the 
dance.  But  in  this  quiet  place  the  light  sound 
caught  Mr.  McLean's  attention,  and  he  turned  to 
see  if  anything  were  wrong.  But  both  babies 
were  sleeping  peacefully. 

"  Them's  Uncle  Hughey's  twins,"  he  said. 

"  How  do  you  happen  to  know  that  ?  "  inquired 
the  Virginian,  suddenly  interested. 

"  Saw  his  wife  put  'em  under  the  chair  so  she 
could  find  'em  right  off  when  she  come  to  go  home." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Virginian,  thoughtfully.  "  Oh, 
find  'em  right  off.  Yes.  Uncle  Hughey's  twins." 
He  walked  to  a  spot  from  which  he  could  view 
the  dance.  "  Well,"  he  continued,  returning,  "  the 
schoolmarm  must  have  taken  quite  a  notion  to 
Uncle  Hughey.  He  has  got  her  for  this  qua 
drille."  The  Virginian  was  now  speaking  without 
rancor ;  but  his  words  came  with  a  slightly  aug 
mented  drawl,  and  this  with  him  was  often  a  bad 
omen.  He  now  turned  his  eyes  upon  the  collected 
babies  wrapped  in  various  colored  shawls  and 
knitted  work.  "  Nine,  ten,  eleven,  beautiful  sleepin' 
strangers,"  he  counted,  in  a  sweet  voice.  "  Any 
of  'em  yourn,  Lin  ?  " 


122 


THE   VIRGINIAN 


"  Not  that  I  know  of,"  grinned  Mr.  McLean. 

"  Eleven,  twelve.  This  hyeh  is  little  Christo 
pher  in  the  blue-stripe  quilt  —  or  maybe  that  other 
yello'-head  is  him.  The  angels  have  commenced 
to  drop  in  on  us  right  smart  along  Bear  Creek, 
Lin." 

"  What  trash  are  yu'  talkin'  anyway  ?  " 

"  If  they  look  so  awful  alike  in  the  heavenly 
gyarden,"  the  gentle  Southerner  continued,  "  I'd 
just  hate  to  be  the  folks  that  has  the  cuttin'  of  'em 
out  o'  the  general  herd.  And  that's  a  right  quaint 
notion  too,"  he  added  softly.  "  Them  under  the 
chair  are  Uncle  Hughey's,  didn't  you  tell  me  ? " 
And  stooping,  he  lifted  the  torpid  babies  and 
placed  them  beneath  a  table.  "  No,  that  ain't 
thorough,"  he  murmured.  With  wonderful  dex 
terity  and  solicitude  for  their  wellfare,  he  removed 
the  loose  wrap  which  was  around  them,  and  this 
soon  led  to  an  intricate  process  of  exchange.  For 
a  moment  Mr.  McLean  had  been  staring  at  th< 
Virginian,  puzzled.  Then,  with  a  joyful  yelp  oi 
enlightenment,  he  sprang  to  abet  him. 

And  while   both   busied    themselves  with   th< 
shawls  and  quilts,  the  unconscious  parents  went 
dancing  vigorously  on,  and  the  small,  occasional 
cries  of  their  progeny  did  not  reach  them. 


"  While  both  busied  themselves  with  the  shawls  and  quilts,  the 
unconscious  parents  went  dancing  vigorously  on." 


XI 

"YOU'RE  GOING  TO  LOVE  ME  BEFORE  WE  GET 
THROUGH  " 

THE  Swinton  barbecue  was  over.  The  fiddles 
were  silent,  the  steer  was  eaten,  the  barrel 
emptied,  or  largely  so,  and  the  tapers  extin 
guished  ;  round  the  house  and  sunken  fire  all 
movement  of  guests  was  quiet ;  the  families  were 
long  departed  homeward,  and  after  their  hospit 
able  turbulence,  the  Swintons  slept. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Westfall  drove  through  the  night, 
and  as  they  neared  their  cabin  there  came  from 
among  the  bundled  wraps  a  still,  small  voice. 

"  Jim,"  said  his  wife,  "  I  said  Alfred  would  catch 
cold." 

"Bosh!  Lizzie,  don't  you  fret.  He's  a  little 
more  than  a  yearlin',  and  of  course  he'll  snufHe." 
And  young  James  took  a  kiss  from  his  love. 

"  Well,  how  you  can  speak  of  Alfred  that  way, 
calling  him  a  yearling,  as  if  he  was  a  calf,  and  he 
just  as  much  your  child  as  mine,  I  don't  see, 
James  Westfall!" 

"  Why,  what  under  the  sun  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  There  he  goes  again !  Do  hurry  up  home, 
Jim.  He's  got  a  real  strange  cough." 

So  they  hurried  home.  Soon  the  nine  miles 
were  finished,  and  good  James  was  unhitching  by 
his  stable  lantern,  while  his  wife  in  the  house 
hastened  to  commit  their  offspring  to  bed.  The 
traces  had  dropped,  and  each  horse  marched  for- 

123 


124 


THE   VIRGINIAN 


ward  for  further  unbuckling,  when  James  heard 
himself  called.  Indeed,  there  was  that  in  his 
wife's  voice  which  made  him  jerk  out  his  pistol 
as  he  ran.  But  it  was  no  bear  or  Indian  —  only 
two  strange  children  on  the  bed.  His  wife  was 
glaring  at  them. 

He  sighed  with  relief  and  laid  down  the  pistol. 

"  Put   that    on  again,  James  WestfalL     You'll 
need  it.     Look  here  !  " 

"  Well,    they    won't    bite.      Whose   are   they  ? 
Where  have  you  stowed  our'n  ?  " 

"Where  have  I  — "  Utterance  forsook  this 
mother  for  a  moment.  "  And  you  ask  me  !  "  she 
continued.  "  Ask  Lin  McLean.  Ask  him  that 
sets  bulls  on  folks  and  steals  slippers,  what  he's 
done  with  our  innocent  lambs,  mixing  them  up 
with  other  people's  coughing,  unhealthy  brats. 
That's  Charlie  Taylor  in  Alfred's  clothes,  and  I 
know  Alfred  didn't  cough  like  that,  and  I  said  t< 
you  it  was  strange ;  and  the  other  one  that's  been 
put  in  Christopher's  new  quilts  is  not  even  a  bul 
—  bub  — boy!" 

As  this  crime  against  society  loomed  clear 
James  Westf all's  understanding,  he  sat  down  on 
the  nearest  piece  of  furniture,  and  heedless  of  his 
wife's  tears  and  his  exchanged  children,  broke 
into  unregenerate  laughter.  Doubtless  after  his 
sharp  alarm  about  the  bear,  he  was  unstrung. 
His  lady,  however,  promptly  restrung  him ;  and 
by  the  time  they  had  repacked  the  now  clamorous 
changelings,  and  were  rattling  on  their  way  to  the 
Taylors',  he  began  to  share  her  outraged  feelings 
properly,  as  a  husband  and  a  father  should ;  but 
when  he  reached  the  Taylors'  and  learned  from 


"YOU'RE   GOING  TO   LOVE   ME"  125 

Miss  Wood  that  at  this  house  a  child  had  been 
unwrapped  whom  nobody  could  at  all  identify, 
and  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  were  already  far  on 
the  road  to  the  Swintons',  James  Westfall  whipped 
up  his  horses  and  grew  almost  as  thirsty  for  re 
venge  as  was  his  wife. 

Where  the  steer  had  been  roasted,  the  powdered 
ashes  were  now  cold  white,  and  Mr.  McLean, 
feeling  through  his  dreams  the  change  of  dawn 
come  over  the  air,  sat  up  cautiously  among  the 
outdoor  slumberers  and  waked  his  neighbor. 

"  Day  will  be  soon,"  he  whispered,  "  and  we 
must  light  out  of  this.  I  never  suspicioned  yu' 
had  that  much  of  the  devil  in  you  before." 

"  I  reckon  some  of  the  fellows  will  act  haid- 
strong,"  the  Virginian  murmured  luxuriously, 
among  the  warmth  of  his  blankets. 

"  I  tell  yu'  we  must  skip,"  said  Lin,  for  the 
second  time;  and  he  rubbed  the  Virginian's  black 
head,  which  alone  was  visible. 

"Skip,  then,  you,"  came  muffled  from  within, 
"and  keep  you 'self  mighty  sca'ce  till  they  can 
appreciate  our  frolic." 

The  Southerner  withdrew  deeper  into  his  bed, 
and  Mr.  McLean,  informing  him  that  he  was  a 
fool,  arose  and  saddled  his  horse.  From  the 
saddle-bag  he  brought  a  parcel,  and  lightly  laying 
this  beside  Bokay  Baldy,  he  mounted  and  was 
gone.  When  Baldy  awoke  later,  he  found  the 
parcel  to  be  a  pair  of  flowery  slippers. 

In  selecting  the  inert  Virginian  as  the  fool, 
Mr.  McLean  was  scarcely  wise ;  it  is  the  absent 
who  are  always  guilty. 


126  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Before  ever  Lin  could  have  been  a  mile  in  re 
treat,  the  rattle  of  the  wheels  roused  all  of  them, 
and  here  came  the  Taylors.  Before  the  Taylors' 
knocking  had  brought  the  Swintons  to  their 
door,  other  wheels  sounded,  and  here  were  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Carmody,  and  Uncle  Hughey  with  his 
wife,  and  close  after  them  Mr.  Dow,  alone,  who 
told  how  his  wife  had  gone  into  one  of  her  fits  — 
she  upon  whom  Dr.  Barker  at  Drybone  had 
enjoined  total  abstinence  from  all  excitement. 
Voices  of  women  and  children  began  to  be  up 
lifted  ;  the  Westfalls  arrived  in  a  lather,  and  the 
Thomases ;  and  by  sunrise,  what  with  fathers  and 
mothers  and  spectators  and  loud  offspring,  there 
was  gathered  such  a  meeting  as  has  seldom  been 
before  among  the  generations  of  speaking  men. 
To-day  you  can  hear  legends  of  it  from  Texas  to 
Montana ;  but  I  am  giving  you  the  full  particu 
lars. 

Of  course  they  pitched  upon  poor  Lin.  Here 
was  the  Virginian  doing  his  best,  holding  horses 
and  helping  ladies  descend,  while  the  name  of 
McLean  began  to  be  muttered  with  threats. 
Soon  a  party  led  by  Mr.  Dow  set  forth  in  search 
of  him,  and  the  Southerner  debated  a  moment  if 
he  had  better  not  put  them  on  a  wrong  track. 
But  he  concluded  that  they  might  safely  go  on 
searching. 

Mrs.  Westfall  found  Christopher  at  once  in  the 
green  shawl  of  Anna  Maria  Dow,  but  all  was  not 
achieved  thus  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  Mr. 
McLean  had,  it  appeared,  as  James  Westfall  lugu 
briously  pointed  out,  not  merely  "  swapped  the 
duds ;  he  had  shuffled  the  whole  doggone  deck ; " 


"YOU'RE   GOING  TO   LOVE   ME"  127 

and  they  cursed  this  Satanic  invention.  The 
fathers  were  but  of  moderate  assistance;  it  was 
the  mothers  who  did  the  heavy  work ;  and  by  ten 
o'clock  some  unsolved  problems  grew  so  delicate 
that  a  ladies'  caucus  was  organized  in  a  private 
room, —  no  admittance  for  men,  —  and  what  was 
done  there  I  can  only  surmise. 

During  its  progress  the  search  party  returned. 
It  had  not  found  Mr.  McLean.  It  had  found  a 
tree  with  a  notice  pegged  upon  it,  reading,  "  God 
bless  our  home  !  "  This  was  captured. 

But  success  attended  the  caucus ;  each  mother 
emerged,  satisfied  that  she  had  received  her  own, 
and  each  sire,  now  that  his  family  was  itself  again, 
began  to  look  at  his  neighbor  sideways.  After  a 
man  has  been  angry  enough  to  kill  another  man, 
after  the  fire  of  righteous  slaughter  has  raged  in 
his  heart  as  it  had  certainly  raged  for  several 
hours  in  the  hearts  of  these  fathers,  the  flame  will 
usually  burn  itself  out.  This  will  be  so  in  a  gen 
erous  nature,  unless  the  cause  of  the  anger  is  still 
unchanged.  But  the  children  had  been  identified ; 
none  had  taken  hurt.  All  had  been  humanely 
given  their  nourishment.  The  thing  was  over. 
The  day  was  beautiful.  A  tempting  feast  re 
mained  from  the  barbecue.  These  Bear  Creek 
fathers  could  not  keep  their  ire  at  red  heat.  Most 
of  them,  being  as  yet  more  their  wives'  lovers  than 
their  children's  parents,  began  to  see  the  mirthful 
side  of  the  adventure ;  and  they  ceased  to  feel 
very  severely  toward  Lin  McLean. 

Not  so  the  women.  They  cried  for  vengeance  ; 
but  they  cried  in  vain,  and  were  met  with  smiles. 

Mrs.  Westfall    argued   long   that    punishment 


128  THE   VIRGINIAN 

should  be  dealt  the  offender.  "  Anyway,"  she 
persisted,  "  it  was  real  defiant  of  him  putting  that 
up  on  the  tree.  I  might  forgive  him  but  for  that." 

"  Yes,"  spoke  the  Virginian  in  their  midst, 
"  that  wasn't  sort  o'  right.  Especially  as  I  am  the 
man  you're  huntin'." 

They  sat  dumb  at  his  assurance. 

"  Come  and  kill  me,"  he  continued,  looking 
round  upon  the  party.  "  I'll  not  resist." 

But  they  could  not  resist  the  way  in  which  he 
had  looked  round  upon  them.  He  had  chosen  the 
right  moment  for  his  confession,  as  a  captain  of 
horse  awaits  the  proper  time  for  a  charge.  Some 
rebukes  he  did  receive ;  the  worst  came  from  the 
mothers.  And  all  that  he  could  say  for  himself 
was,  "  I  am  getting  off  too  easy." 

"  But  what  was  your  point  ?  "  said  Westfall. 

"  Blamed  if  I  know  any  more.  I  expect  it  must 
have  been  the  whiskey." 

"  I  would  mind  it  less,"  said  Mrs.  Westfall,  "  if 
you  looked  a  bit  sorry  or  ashamed." 

The  Virginian  shook  his  head  at  her  penitently. 
"  I'm  tryin'  to,"  he  said. 

And  thus  he  sat  disarming  his  accusers  until 
they  began  to  lunch  upon  the  copious  remnants 
of  the  barbecue.  He  did  not  join  them  at  this 
meal.  In  telling  you  that  Mrs.  Dow  was  the  only 
lady  absent  upon  this  historic  morning,  I  was 
guilty  of  an  inadvertence.  There  was  one  other. 

The  Virginian  rode  away  sedately  through  the 
autumn  sunshine;  and  as  he  went  he  asked  his 
Monte  horse  a  question.  "  Do  yu'  reckon  she'll 
have  forgotten  you  too,  you  pie-biter?"  said  he. 


"YOU'RE   GOING   TO   LOVE   ME"  129 

Instead  of  the  new  trousers,  the  cow-puncher's 
leathern  chaps  were  on  his  legs.  But  he  had 
the  new  scarf  knotted  at  his  neck.  Most  men 
would  gladly  have  equalled  him  in  appearance. 
"  You  Monte,"  said  he,  "will  she  be  at  home?  " 

It  was  Sunday,  and  no  school  day,  and  he  found 
her  in  her  cabin  that  stood  next  the  Taylors' 
house.  Her  eyes  were  very  bright. 

"  I'd  thought  I'd  just  call,"  said  he. 

"  Why,  that's  such  a  pity !  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tay 
lor  are  away." 

"  Yes ;  they've  been  right  busy.  That's  why  I 
thought  I'd  call.  Will  yu'  come  for  a  ride, 
ma'am  ? " 

"Dear  me!     I  —  " 

"You  can  ride  my  hawss.     He's  gentle." 

"What!     And  you  walk?" 

"  No,  ma'am.  Nor  the  two  of  us  ride  him  this 
time,  either."  At  this  she  turned  entirely  pink, 
and  he,  noticing,  went  on  quietly:  "I'll  catch  up 
one  of  Taylor's  hawsses.  Taylor  knows  me." 

"No.  I  don't  really  think  I  could  do  that. 
But  thank  you.  Thank  you  very  much.  I  must 
go  now  and  see  how  Mrs.  Taylor's  fire  is." 

"  I'll  look  after  that,  ma'am.  I'd  like  for  yu'  to 
go  ridin'  mighty  well.  Yu'  have  no  babies  this 
mawnin'  to  be  anxious  after." 

At  this  shaft,  Grandmother  Stark  flashed  awake 
deep  within  the  spirit  of  her  descendant,  and  she 
made  a  haughty  declaration  of  war.  "  I  don't 
know  what  you  mean,  sir,"  she  said. 

Now  was  his  danger ;  for  it  was  easy  to  fall  into 
mere  crude  impertinence  and  ask  her  why,  then, 
did  she  speak  thus  abruptly?  There  were  vari- 


130  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ous  easy  things  of  this  kind  for  him  to  say.  And 
any  rudeness  would  have  lost  him  the  battle. 
But  the  Virginian  was  not  the  man  to  lose  such 
a  battle  in  such  a  way.  His  shaft  had  hit.  She 
thought  he  referred  to  those  babies  about  whom 
last  night  she  had  shown  such  superfluous  solici 
tude.  Her  conscience  was  guilty.  This  was  all 
that  he  had  wished  to  make  sure  of  before  he 
began  operations. 

"  Why,  I  mean,"  said  he,  easily,  sitting  down 
near  the  door,  "that  it's  Sunday.  School  don't 
hinder  yu'  from  enjoyin'  a  ride  to-day.  You'll 
teach  the  kids  all  the  better  for  it  to-morro', 
ma'am.  Maybe  it's  your  duty."  And  he  smiled 
at  her. 

"  My  duty !  It's  quite  novel  to  have  stran 
gers— " 

"  Am  I  a  stranger  ? "  he  cut  in,  firing  his  first 
broadside.  "  I  was  introduced,  ma'am,"  he  con 
tinued,  noting  how  she  had  flushed  again.  "  And 
I  would  not  be  oversteppin'  for  the  world.  I'll 
go  away  if  yu'  want."  And  hereupon  he  quietly 
rose,  and  stood,  hat  in  hand. 

Molly  was  flustered.  She  did  not  at  all  want 
him  to  go.  No  one  of  her  admirers  had  ever 
been  like  this  creature.  The  fringed  leathern 
chaparreros,  the  cartridge  belt,  the  flannel  shirt, 
the  knotted  scarf  at  the  neck,  these  things  were 
now  an  old  story  to  her.  Since  her  arrival  she 
had  seen  young  men  and  old  in  plenty  dressed 
thus.  But  worn  by  this  man  now  standing  by 
her  door,  they  seemed  to  radiate  romance.  She 
did  not  want  him  to  go  —  and  she  wished  to  win 
her  battle.  And  now  in  her  agitation  she  be- 


"YOU'RE   GOING  TO   LOVE   ME"  131 

came  suddenly  severe,  as  she  had  done  at  Hoosic 
Junction.  He  should  have  a  punishment  to 
remember ! 

"  You  call  yourself  a  man,  I  suppose,"  she  said. 

But  he  did  not  tremble  in  the  least.  Her 
fierceness  filled  him  with  delight,  and  the  tender 
desire  of  ownership  flooded  through  him. 

"  A  grown-up,  responsible  man,"  she  repeated. 

"  Yes,  ma'am.  I  think  so."  He  now  sat  down 
again. 

"And  you  let  them  think  that  —  that  Mr. 
McLean —  You  dare  not  look  me  in  the  face 
and  say  that  Mr.  McLean  did  that  last  night! " 

"  I  reckon  I  dassent." 

"  There !  I  knew  it !  I  said  so  from  the 
first!" 

"  And  me  a  stranger  to  you  !  "  he  murmured. 

It  was  his  second  broadside.  It  left  her  badly 
crippled.  She  was  silent. 

"  Who  did  yu'  mention  it  to,  ma'am  ? " 

She  hoped  she  had  him.  "Why,  are  you 
afraid?"  And  she  laughed  lightly. 

"  I  told  'em  myself.  And  their  astonishment 
seemed  so  genu-wine  I'd  just  hate  to  think  they  had 
fooled  me  that  thorough  when  they  knowed  it  all 
along  from  you  seeing  me." 

"I  did  not  see  you.  I  knew  it  must —  Of 
course  I  did  not  tell  any  one.  When  I  said  I  said 
so  from  the  first,  I  meant  —  you  can  understand 
perfectly  what  I  meant." 

"  Yes,  ma'am." 

Poor  Molly  was  near  stamping  her  foot.  "  And 
what  sort  of  a  trick,"  she  rushed  on,  "was  that  to 
play  ?  09  you  call  it  a  manly  thing  to  frighten 


132  THE  VIRGINIAN 

and  distress  women  because  you  —  for  no  reason 
at  all  ?  I  should  never  have  imagined  it  could  be 
the  act  of  a  person  who  wears  a  big  pistol  and 
rides  a  big  horse.  I  should  be  afraid  to  go  riding 
with  such  an  immature  protector." 

"  Yes ;  that  was  awful  childish.  Your  words 
do  cut  a  little ;  for  maybe  there's  been  times 
when  I  have  acted  pretty  near  like  a  man.  But 
I  cert'nly  forgot  to  be  introduced  before  I  spoke 
to  yu'  last  night.  Because  why  ?  You've  found 
me  out  dead  in  one  thing.  Won't  you  take  a 
guess  at  this  too  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  sit  guessing  why  people  do  not 
behave  themselves  —  who  seem  to  know  better." 

"  Well,  ma'am,  I've  played  square  and  owned 
up  to  yu'.  And  that's  not  what  you're  doin'  by 
me.  I  ask  your  pardon  if  I  say  what  I  have  a 
right  to  say  in  language  not  as  good  as  I'd  like 
to  talk  to  yu'  with.  But  at  South  Fork  Crossin' 
who  did  any  introducing  Did  yu'  complain  I 
was  a  stranger  then  ?  " 

"I  —  no  !  "  she  flashed  out ;  then,  quite  sweetly, 
"  The  driver  told  me  it  wasn't  really  so  dangerous 
there,  you  know." 

"  That's  not  the  point  I'm  makin'.  You  are  a 
grown-up  woman,  a  responsible  woman.  You've 
come  ever  so  far,  and  all  alone,  to  a  rough  coun 
try  to  instruct  young  children  that  play  games,  — 
tag,  and  hide-and-seek,  and  fooleries  they'll  have 
to  quit  when  they  get  old.  Don't  you  think  pre- 
tendin'  yu'  don't  know  a  man, — his  name's  nothin', 
but  him,  —  a  man  whom  you  were  glad  enough  to 
let  assist  yu'  when  somebody  was  needed,  —  don't 
you  think  that's  mighty  close  to  hide-and-seek 


"YOU'RE   GOING  TO   LOVE   ME"  133 

them  children  plays?  I  ain't  so  sure  but  what 
there's  a  pair  of  us  children  in  this  hyeh  room." 

Molly  Wood  was  regarding  him  saucily.  "  I 
don't  think  I  like  you,"  said  she. 

"  That's  all  square  enough.  You're  goin'  to 
love  me  before  we  get  through.  I  wish  yu'd 
come  a-ridin',  ma'am." 

"  Dear,  dear,  dear!  So  I'm  going  to  love  you? 
How  will  you  do  it?  I  know  men  think  that 
they  only  need  to  sit  and  look  strong  and  make 
chests  at  a  girl  —  " 

"  Goodness  gracious !  I  ain't  makin'  any  chests 
at  yu' !  "  Laughter  overcame  him  for  a  moment, 
and  Miss  Wood  liked  his  laugh  very  much. 
"  Please  come  a-ridin',"  he  urged.  "  It's  the  pret 
tiest  kind  of  a  day." 

She  looked  at  him  frankly,  and  there  was  a 
pause.  "  I  will  take  back  two  things  that  I  said 
to  you,"  she  then  answered  him.  "  I  believe  that 
I  do  like  you.  And  I  know  that  if  I  went  riding 
with  you,  I  should  not  have  an  immature  pro 
tector."  And  then,  with  a  final  gesture  of  ac 
knowledgment,  she  held  out  her  hand  to  him. 
"  And  I  have  always  wanted,"  she  said,  "  to  thank 
you  for  what  you  did  at  the  river." 

He  took  her  hand,  and  his  heart  bounded. 
"  You're  a  gentleman  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

It  was  now  her  turn  to  be  overcome  with 
merriment.  "  I've  always  wanted  to  be  a  man," 
she  said. 

"  I  am  mighty  glad  you  ain't,"  said  he,  looking 
at  her. 

But  Molly  had  already  received  enough  broad 
sides  for  one  day.  She  could  allow  no  more  of 


134 


THE  VIRGINIAN 


them,  and  she  took  herself  capably  in  hand. 
"Where  did  you  learn  to  make  such  pretty 
speeches  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Well,  never  mind  that. 
One  sees  that  you  have  had  plenty  of  practice 
for  one  so  young." 

"  I  am  twenty-seven,"  blurted  the  Virginian, 
and  knew  instantly  that  he  had  spoken  like  a 
fool. 

"Who  would  have  dreamed  it!"  said  Molly, 
with  well-measured  mockery.  She  knew  that 
she  had  scored  at  last,  and  that  this  day  was 
hers.  "  Don't  be  too  sure  you  are  glad  I'm  not 
a  man,"  she  now  told  him.  There  was  something 
like  a  challenge  in  her  voice. 

"  I  risk  it,"  he  remarked. 

"  For  I  am  almost  twenty-three  myself,"  she 
concluded.  And  she  gave  him  a  look  on  her 
own  account. 

"  And  you'll  not  come  a-ridin'  ?  "  he  persisted. 

"No,"  she  answered  him;  "no."  And  he 
knew  that  he  could  not  make  her. 

"  Then  I  will  tell  yu'  good-by,"  said  he.  "  But 
I  am  comin'  again.  And  next  time  I'll  have 
along  a  gentle  hawss  for  yu'." 

"  Next  time !  Next  time !  Well,  perhaps  I 
will  go  with  you.  Do  you  live  far  ? " 

"  I  live  on  Judge  Henry's  ranch,  over  yondeh." 
He  pointed  across  the  mountains.    "  It's  on  Sunk 
Creek.      A  pretty  rough   trail;   but  I  can  com< 
hyeh  to  see  you  in  a  day,  I  reckon.    Well,  I  hop< 
you'll  cert'nly  enjoy  good  health,  ma'am." 

"Oh,  there's  one  thing!"  said  Molly  Wood, 
calling  after  him  rather  quickly.  "I  —  I'm  nol 
at  all  afraid  of  horses.  You  needn't  bring  sue! 


"YOU'RE   GOING   TO   LOVE   ME"  135 

a  gentle  one.  I  —  was  very  tired  that  day,  and  — 
and  I  don't  scream  as  a  rule." 

He  turned  and  looked  at  her  so  that  she  could 
not  meet  his  glance.  "  Bless  your  heart !  "  said 
he.  "  Will  yu'  give  me  one  o'  those  flowers  ?  " 

"  Oh,  certainly !  I'm  always  so  glad  when  people 
like  them." 

"  They're  pretty  near  the  color  of  your  eyes." 

"  Never  mind  my  eyes." 

"  Can't  help  it,  ma'am.     Not  since  South  Fork." 

He  put  the  flower  in  the  leather  band  of  his 
hat,  and  rode  away  on  his  Monte  horse.  Miss 
Wood  lingered  a  moment,  then  made  some  steps 
toward  her  gate,  from  which  he  could  still  be  seen  ; 
and  then,  with  something  like  a  toss  of  the  head, 
she  went  in  and  shut  her  door. 

Later  in  the  day  the  Virginian  met  Mr.  McLean, 
who  looked  at  his  hat  and  innocently  quoted, 
"  '  My  Looloo  picked  a  daisy.' ' 

"  Don't  yu',  Lin,"  said  the  Southerner. 

"  Then  I  won't,"  said  Lin. 

Thus,  for  this  occasion,  did  the  Virginian  part 
from  his  lady  —  and  nothing  said  one  way  or  an: 
other  about  the  handkerchief  that  had  disappeared 
during  the  South  Fork  incident. 

As  we  fall  asleep  at  night,  our  thoughts  will  of 
ten  ramble  back  and  forth  between  the  two  worlds. 

"  What  color  were  his  eyes  ? "  wondered  Molly 
on  her  pillow.  "  His  mustache  is  not  bristly  like 
so  many  of  them.  Sam  never  gave  me  such  a 

look  as..  .Hoosic  Junction —  No You  can't 

come  with  me Get  off  your  horse The 

passengers  are  all  staring " 

And  while  Molly  was  thus  dreaming  that  the 


136  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Virginian  had  ridden  his  horse  into  the  railroad  car, 
and  sat  down  beside  her,  the  fire  in  the  great  stone 
chimney  of  her  cabin  flickered  quietly,  its  gleams 
now  and  again  touching  the  miniature  of  Grand 
mother  Stark  upon  the  wall. 

Camped  on  the  Sunk  Creek  trail,  the  Virginian 
was  telling  himself  in  his  blankets :  — 

"  I  ain't  too  old  for  education.  Maybe  she  will 
lend  me  books.  And  I'll  watch  her  ways  and 

learn . . .  stand  still,  Monte I  can  learn  a  lot 

more  than  the  kids  on  that . . .  There's  Monte 
. . .  you  pie-biter,  stop —  He  has  ate  up  your 
book,  ma'am,  but  I'll  get  yu' . . .  " 

And  then  the  Virginian  was  fast  asleep. 


XII 

QUALITY    AND    EQUALITY 

To  the  circle  at  Bennington,  a  letter  from  Bear 
Creek  was  always  a  welcome  summons  to  gather 
and  hear  of  doings  very  strange  to  Vermont. 
And  when  the  tale  of  the  changed  babies  arrived 
duly  by  the  post,  it  created  a  more  than  usual 
sensation,  and  was  read  to  a  large  number  of 
pleased  and  scandalized  neighbors.  "  I  hate  her 
to  be  where  such  things  can  happen,"  said  Mrs. 
Wood.  "  I  wish  I  could  have  been  there,"  said 
her  son-in-law,  Andrew  Bell.  "She  does  not 
mention  who  played  the  trick,"  said  Mrs.  Andrew 
Bell.  "  We  shouldn't  be  any  wiser  if  she  did," 
said  Mrs.  Wood.  "  I'd  like  to  meet  the  per 
petrator,"  said  Andrew.  "  Oh,  no ! "  said  Mrs. 
Wood.  "  They're  all  horrible."  And  she  wrote 
at  once,  begging  her  daughter  to  take  good  care 
of  herself,  and  to  see  as  much  of  Mrs.  Balaam  as 
possible.  "  And  of  any  other  ladies  that  are  near 
you.  For  you  seem  to  me  to  be  in  a  community 
of  roughs.  I  wish  you  would  give  it  all  up.  Did 
you  expect  me  to  laugh  about  the  babies  ? " 

Mrs.  Flynt,  when  this  story  was  repeated  to  her 
(she  had  not  been  invited  in  to  hear  the  letter), 
remarked  that  she  had  always  felt  that  Molly 
Wood  must  be  a  little  vulgar,  ever  since  she  began 

137 


138  THE   VIRGINIAN 

to  go  about  giving  music  lessons  like  any  ordinary 
German. 

But  Mrs.  Wood  was  considerably  relieved  when 
the  next  letter  arrived.  It  contained  nothing  hor 
rible  about  barbecues  or  babies.  It  mentioned 
the  great  beauty  of  the  weather,  and  how  well  and 
strong  -the  fine  air  was  making  the  writer  feel. 
And  it  asked  that  books  might  be  sent,  many 
books  of  all  sorts,  novels,  poetry,  all  the  good  old 
books  and  any  good  new  ones  that  could  be  spared. 
Cheap  editions,  of  course.  "  Indeed  she  shall 
have  them  !  "  said  Mrs.  Wood.  "  How  her  mind 
must  be  starving  in  that  dreadful  place !  "  The 
letter  was  not  a  long  one,  and,  besides  the  books, 
spoke  of  little  else  except  the  fine  weather  and 
the  chances  for  outdoor  exercise  that  this  gave. 
"  You  have  no  idea,"  it  said,  "  how  delightful  it  is 
to  ride,  especially  on  a  spirited  horse,  which  I 
can  do  now  quite  well." 

"  How  nice  that  is !  "  said  Mrs.  Wood,  putting 
down  the  letter.  "  I  hope  the  horse  is  not  too 
spirited." — "  Who  does  she  go  riding  with  ?  "  asked 
Mrs.  Bell.  "  She  doesn't  say,  Sarah.  Why  ?  "  — 
"  Nothing.  She  has  a  queer  way  of  not  mention 
ing  things,  now  and  then." —  "  Sarah  !  "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Wood,  reproachfully.  "  Oh,  well,  mother, 
you  know  just  as  well  as  I  do  that  she  can  be  very 
independent  and  unconventional."  —  "  Yes ;  but 
not  in  that  way.  She  wouldn't  ride  with  poor 
Sam  Bannett,  and  after  all  he  is  a  suitable 
person." 

Nevertheless,  in  her  next  letter,  Mrs.  Wood 
cautioned  her  daughter  about  trusting  herself  with 
any  one  of  whom  Mrs.  Balaam  did  not  thoroughly 


QUALITY  AND    EQUALITY  139 


approve.  The  good  lady  could  never  grasp  that 
Mrs.  Balaam  lived  a  long  day's  journey  from  Bear 
Creek,  and  that  Molly  saw  her  about  once  every 
three  months.  "We  have  sent  your  books,"  the 
mother  wrote;  "everybody  has  contributed  from 
their  store,  —  Shakespeare,  Tennyson,  Browning, 
Longfellow;  and  a  number  of  novels  by  Scott, 
Thackeray,  George  Eliot,  Hawthorne,  and  lesser 
writers ;  some  volumes  of  Emerson ;  and  Jane 
Austen  complete,  because  you  admire  her  so 
particularly." 

This  consignment  of  literature  reached  Bear 
Creek  about  a  week  before  Christmas  time. 

By  New  Year's  Day,  the  Virginian  had  begun 
his  education. 

"  Well,  I  have  managed  to  get  through  'em/'  he 
said,  as  he  entered  Molly's  cabin  in  February. 
And  he  laid  two  volumes  upon  her  table. 

"  And  what  do  you  think  of  them  ? "  she 
inquired. 

"  I  think  that  I've  cert'nly  earned  a  good  long 
ride  to-day." 

"  Georgie  Taylor  has  sprained  his  ankle." 

"No,  I  don't  mean  that  kind  of  a  ride.  I've 
earned  a  ride  with  just  us  two  alone.  I've  read 
every  word  of  both  of  'em,  yu'  know." 

"  I'll  think  about  it.     Did  you  like  them  ?  " 

"  No.  Not  much.  If  I'd  knowed  that  one  was 
a  detective  story,  I'd  have  got  yu'  to  try  some 
thing  else  on  me.  Can  you  guess  the  murderer, 
or  is  the  author  too  smart  for  yu'?  That's  all 
they  amount  to.  Well,  he  was  too  smart  for  me 
this  time,  but  that  didn't  distress  me  any.  That 
other  book  talks  too  much." 


i4o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Molly  was  scandalized,  and  she  told  him  it  was 
a  great  work. 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes.  A  fine  book.  But  it  will  keep 
up  its  talkin'.  Don't  let  you  alone." 

"  Didn't  you  feel  sorry  for  poor  Maggie  Tul- 
liver?" 

"  Hmp.  Yes.  Sorry  for  her,  and  for  Tawmmy, 
too.  But  the  man  did  right  to  drownd  'em  both." 

"  It  wasn't  a  man.     A  woman  wrote  that." 

"  A  woman  did  !  Well,  then,  o'  course  she  talks 
too  much." 

"  I'll  not  go  riding  with  you ! "  shrieked  Molly. 

But  she  did.  And  he  returned  to  Sunk  Creek, 
not  with  a  detective  story,  but  this  time  with  a 
Russian  novel. 

It  was  almost  April  when  he  brought  it  back 
to  her  —  and  a  heavy  sleet  storm  lost  them  their 
ride.  So  he  spent  his  time  indoors  with  her,  not 
speaking  a  syllable  of  love.  When  he  came  to 
take  his  departure,  he  asked  her  for  some  other 
book  by  this  same  Russian.  But  she  had  no 
more. 

"  I  wish  you  had,"  he  said.  "  I've  never  saw  a 
book  could  tell  the  truth  like  that  one  does." 

"  Why,  what  do  you  like  about  it  ? "  she  ex 
claimed.  To  her  it  had  been  distasteful. 

"  Everything,"  he  answered.  "  That  young 
come-outer,  and  his  fam'ly  that  can't  understand 
him  —  for  he  is  broad  gauge,  yu'  see,  and  they  are 
narro'  gauge."  The  Virginian  looked  at  Molly 
a  moment  almost  shyly.  "  Do  you  know,"  he 
said,  and  a  blush  spread  over  his  face,  "  I  pretty 
near  cried  when  that  young  come-outer  was  dyin', 
and  said  about  himself,  '  I  was  a  giant.'  Life 


QUALITY   AND   EQUALITY  141 

made  him  broad  gauge,  yu'  see,  and  then  took  his 
chance  away." 

Molly  liked  the  Virginian  for  his  blush.  It 
made  him  very  handsome.  But  she  thought  that 
it  came  from  his  confession  about  "  pretty  near 
crying."  The  deeper  cause  she  failed  to  divine,  — 
that  he,  like  the  dying  hero  in  the  novel,  felt  him 
self  to  be  a  giant  whom  life  had  made  "broad 
gauge,"  and  denied  opportunity.  Fecund  nature 
begets  and  squanders  thousands  of  these  rich 
seeds  in  the  wilderness  of  life. 

He  took  away  with  him  a  volume  of  Shake 
speare.  "  I've  saw  good  plays  of  his,"  he  remarked. 

Kind  Mrs.  Taylor  in  her  cabin  next  door 
•watched  him  ride  off  in  the  sleet,  bound  for  the 
lonely  mountain  trail. 

"  If  that  girl  don't  get  ready  to  take  him  pretty 
soon,"  she  observed  to  her  husband,  "  I'll  give  her 
a  piece  of  my  mind." 

Taylor  was  astonished.  "  fs  he  thinking  of 
her  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Lord,  Mr.  Taylor,  and  why  shouldn't  he  ?  " 

Mr.  Taylor  scratched  his  head  and  returned  to 
his  newspaper. 

It  was  warm  —  warm  and  beautiful  upon  Bear 
Creek.  Snow  shone  upon  the  peaks  of  the  Bow 
Leg  range ;  lower  on  their  slopes  the  pines  were 
stirring  with  a  gentle  song  ;  and  flowers  bloomed 
across  the  wide  plains  at  their  feet. 

Molly  and  her  Virginian  sat  at  a  certain  spring 
where  he  had  often  ridden  with  her.  On  this  day 
he  was  bidding  her  farewell  before  undertaking 
the  most  important  trust  which  Judge  Henry  had 


i42  THE   VIRGINIAN 

as  yet  given  him.  For  this  journey  she  had  pro 
vided  him  with  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Kenilworth. 
Shakespeare  he  had  returned  to  her.  He  had 
bought  Shakespeare  for  himself.  "  As  soon  as  I 
got  used  to  readin'  it,"  he  had  told  her,  "  I  knowed 
for  certain  that  I  liked  readin'  for  enjoyment." 

But  it  was  not  of  books  that  he  had  spoken 
much  to-day.  He  had  not  spoken  at  all.  He 
had  bade  her  listen  to  the  meadow-lark,  when  its 
song  fell  upon  the  silence  like  beaded  drops  of 
music.  He  had  showed  her  where  a  covey  of 
young  willow-grouse  were  hiding  as  their  horses 
passed.  And  then,  without  warning,  as  they  sat 
by  the  spring,  he  had  spoken  potently  of  his  love. 

She  did  not  interrupt  him.  She  waited  until 
he  was  wholly  finished. 

"  I  am  not  the  sort  of  wife  you  want,"  she  said, 
with  an  attempt  of  airiness. 

He  answered  roughly,  "  I  am  the  judge  of  that." 
And  his  roughness  was  a  pleasure  to  her,  yet  it 
made  her  afraid  of  herself.  When  he  was  absent 
from  her,  and  she  could  sit  in  her  cabin  and  look 
at  Grandmother  Stark,  and  read  home  letters, 
then  in  imagination  she  found  it  easy  to  play  the 
part  which  she  had  arranged  to  play  regarding 
him  —  the  part  of  the  guide,  and  superior,  and  in 
dulgent  companion.  But  when  he  was  by  her 
side,  that  part  became  a  difficult  one.  Her 
woman's  fortress  was  shaken  by  a  force  unknown 
to  her  before.  Sam  Bannett  did  not  have  it  in 
him  to  look  as  this  man  could  look,  when  the  cold 
lustre  of  his  eyes  grew  hot  with  internal  fire. 
What  color  they  were  baffled  her  still.  "  Can  it 
possibly  change  ?  "  she  wondered.  It  seemed  to 


QUALITY   AND    EQUALITY  143 

her  that  sometimes  when  she  had  been  looking 
from  a  rock  straight  down  into  clear  sea  water, 
this  same  color  had  lurked  in  its  depths.  "  Is  it 
green,  or  is  it  gray  ?  "  she  asked  herself,  but  did 
not  turn  just  now  to  see.  She  kept  her  face 
toward  the  landscape. 

"  All  men  are  born  equal,"  he  now  remarked 
slowly. 

"  Yes,"  she  quickly  answered,  with  a  combative 
flash.     "Well?" 

"  Maybe  that  don't  include  women  ?  "  he  sug 
gested. 

"  I  think  it  does." 

"  Do  yu'  tell  the  kids  so  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  teach  them  what  I  believe  !  " 

He  pondered.  "  I  used  to  have  to  learn  about 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  I  hated  books 
and  truck  wh<^n  T  was  a 
an 


don't.  But  I  used  to  get  kep' 
in  at  recess  for  bein'  so  dumb.  I  was  most  al 
ways  at  the  tail  end  of  the  class.  My  brother, 
he'd  be  head  sometimes." 

"  Little  George  Taylor  is  my  prize  scholar," 
said  Molly. 

"  Knows  his  tasks,  does  he  ?  " 

"  Always.     And  Henry  Dow  comes  next." 

"  Who's  last  ?  " 

"  Poor  Bob  Carmody.  I  spend  more  time  on 
him  than  on  all  the  rest  put  together." 

"My!"  said  the  Virginian.  "Ain't  that 
strange  !  " 

She  looked  at  him,  puzzled  by  his  tone.  "  It's 
not  strange  when  you  know7  Bob,"  she  said. 


i44  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  It's  very  strange,"  drawled  the  Virginian. 
"  Knowin'  Bob  don't  help  it  any." 

"  I  don't  think  that  I  understand  you,"  said 
Molly,  stiffly. 

"  Well,  it  is  mighty  confusin'.  George  Taylor, 
he's  your  best  scholar,  and  poor  Bob,  he's  your 
worst,  and  there's  a  lot  in  the  middle  —  and  you 
tell  me  we're  all  born  equal !  " 

Molly  could  only  sit  giggling  in  this  trap  he 
had  so  ingeniously  laid  for  her. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,"  pursued  the  cow-puncher, 
with  slow  and  growing  intensity,  "equality  is 
a  great  big  bluff.  It's  easy  called." 

"  I  didn't  mean  —  "  began  Molly. 

"  Wait,  and  let  me  say  what  I  mean."  He  had 
made  an  imperious  gesture  with  his  hand.  "  I 
know  a  man  that  mostly  wins  at  cyards.  I  know 
a  man  that  mostly  loses.  He  says  it  is  his  luck. 
All  right.  Call  it  his  luck.  I  know  a  man  that 
works  hard  and  he's  gettin'  rich,  and  I  know  an 
other  that  works  hard  and  is  gettin'  poor.  He 
says  it  is  his  luck.  All  right.  Call  it  his  luck. 
I  look  around  and  I  see  folks  movin'  up  or  movin' 
down,  winners  or  losers  everywhere.  All  luck, 
of  course.  But  since  folks  can  be  born  that  dif 
ferent  in  their  luck,  where 's  your  equality?  No, 
seh !  call  your  failure  luck,  or  call  it  laziness, 
wander  around  the  words,  prospect  all  yu'  mind 
to,  and  yu'll  come  out  the  same  old  trail  of  in 
equality."  He  paused  a  moment  and  looked  at 
her.  "  Some  holds  four  aces,"  he  went  on,  "  and 
some  holds  nothin',  and  some  poor  fello'  gets  the 
aces  and  no  show  to  play  'em ;  but  a  man  has  got 
to  prove  himself  my  equal  before  I'll  believe  him." 


QUALITY  AND   EQUALITY  145 


Molly  sat  gazing  at  him,  silent. 

"  I  know  what  yu'  meant,"  he  told  her  now, 
"by  sayin'  you're  not  the  wife  I'd  want.  But  I 
am  the  kind  that  moves  up.  I  am  goin'  to  be 
your  best  scholar."  He  turned  toward  her,  and 
that  fortress  within  her  began  to  shake. 

"  Don't,"  she  murmured.     "  Don't,  please." 

"  Don't  what  ?  " 

"Why  — spoil  this." 

"Spoil  it?" 

"  These  rides  —  I  don't  love  you  —  I  can't  — 
but  these  rides  are  —  " 

"  What  are  they  ? " 

"  My  greatest  pleasure.  There  !  And,  please, 
I  want  them  to  go  on  so." 

"  Go  on  so !  I  don't  reckon  yu'  know  what 
you're  sayin'.  Yu'  might  as  well  ask  fruit  to  stay 
green.  If  the  way  we  are  now  can  keep  bein' 
enough  for  you,  it  can't  for  me.  A  pleasure  to 
you,  is  it?  Well,  to  me  it  is  —  I  don't  know 
what  to  call  it.  I  come  to  yu'  and  I  hate  it,  and 
I  come  again  and  I  hate  it,  and  I  ache  and  grieve 
all  over  when  I  go.  No !  You  will  have  to 
think  of  some  other  way  than  just  invitin'  me  to 
keep  green." 

"  If  I  am  to  see  you  —  "  began  the  girl. 

"  You're  not  to  see  me.  Not  like  this.  I  can 
stay  away  easier  than  what  I  am  doin'." 

"  Will  you  do  me  a  favor,  a  great  one  ? "  said 
she,  now. 

"  Make  it  as  impossible  as  you  please ! "  he 
cried.  He  thought  it  was  to  be  some  action. 

"  Go  on  coming.  But  don't  talk  to  me  about  — 
don't  talk  in  that  way — if  you  can  help  it." 


i46  THE   VIRGINIAN 

He  laughed  out,  not  permitting  himself  to 
swear. 

"  But,"  she  continued,  "  if  you  can't  help  talking 
that  way  —  sometimes  —  I  promise  I  will  listen. 
That  is  the  only  promise  I  make." 

"  That  is  a  bargain,"  he  said. 

Then  he  helped  her  mount  her  horse,  restrain 
ing  himself  like  a  Spartan,  and  they  rode  home 
to  her  cabin. 

"  You  have  made  it  pretty  near  impossible,"  he 
said,  as  he  took  his  leave.  "  But  you've  been 
square  to-day,  and  I'll  show  you  I  can  be  square 
when  I  come  back.  I'll  not  do  more  than  ask 
you  if  your  mind's  the  same.  And  now  I'll  not 
see  you  for  quite  a  while.  I  am  going  a  long  way. 
But  I'll  be  very  busy.  And  bein'  busy  always 
keeps  me  from  grievin'  too  much  about  you." 

Strange  is  woman !  She  would  rather  have 
heard  some  other  last  remark  than  this. 

"  Oh,  very  well !  "  she  said.  "  I'll  not  miss  you 
either." 

He  smiled  at  her.  "  I  doubt  if  yu'  can  help 
missin'  me,"  he  remarked.  And  he  was  gone  at 
once,  galloping  on  his  Monte  horse. 

Which  of  the  two  won  a  victory  this  day  ? 


I 


XIII 

THE    GAME    AND   THE    NATION ACT    FIRST 

THERE  can  be  no  doubt  of  this :  — 

All  America  is  divided  into  two  classes,  —  the 
quality  and  the  equality.  The  latter  will  always 
recognize  the  former  when  mistaken  for  it.  Both 
will  be  with  us  until  our  women  bear  nothing  but 
kings. 

It  was  through  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
that  we  Americans  acknowledged  the  eternal  in 
equality  of  man.  For  by  it  we  abolished  a  cut- 
and-dried  aristocracy.  We  had  seen  little  men 
artificially  held  up  in  high  places,  and  great  men 
artificially  held  down  in  low  places,  and  our  own 
justice-loving  hearts  abhorred  this  violence  to 
human  nature.  Therefore,  we  decreed  that  every 
man  should  thenceforth  have  equal  liberty  to  find 
his  own  level.  By  this  very  decree  we  acknowl 
edged  and  gave  freedom  to  true  aristocracy,  say 
ing,  "  Let  the  best  man  win,  whoever  he  is."  Let 
the  best  man  win !  That  is  America's  word.  That 
is  true  democracy.  And  true  democracy  and  true 
aristocracy  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  If  any 
body  cannot  see  this,  so  much  the  worse  for  his 
eyesight. 

The  above  reflections  occurred  to  me  before 
reaching  Billings,  Montana,  some  three  weeks 
after  I  had  unexpectedly  met  the  Virginian  at 

147 


148  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Omaha,  Nebraska.  I  had  not  known  of  that 
trust  given  to  him  by  Judge  Henry,  which  was 
taking  him  East.  I  was  looking  to  ride  with  him 
before  long  among  the  clean  hills  of  Sunk  Creek. 
I  supposed  he  was  there.  But  I  came  upon  him 
one  morning  in  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones's  eating 
palace. 

Did  you  know  the  palace  ?  It  stood  in  Omaha, 
near  the  trains,  and  it  was  ten  years  old  (which  is 
middle-aged  in  Omaha)  when  I  first  saw  it.  It 
was  a  shell  of  wood,  painted  with  golden  em 
blems, —  the  steamboat,  the  eagle,  the  Yosemite, 
—  and  a  live  bear  ate  gratuities  at  its  entrance. 
Weather  permitting,  it  opened  upon  the  world  as 
a  stage  upon  the  audience.  You  sat  in  Omaha's 
whole  sight  and  dined,  while  Omaha's  dust  came 
and  settled  upon  the  refreshments.  It  is  gone  the 
way  of  the  Indian  and  the  buffalo,  for  the  West  is 
growing  old.  You  should  have  seen  the  palace 
and  sat  there.  In  front  of  you  passed  rainbows 
of  men,  —  Chinese,  Indian  chiefs,  Africans,  Gen 
eral  Miles,  younger  sons,  Austrian  nobility,  wide 
females  in  pink.  Our  continent  drained  pris- 
matically  through  Omaha  once. 

So  I  was  passing  that  way  also,  walking  for 
the  sake  of  ventilation  from  a  sleeping-car  toward 
a  bath,  when  the  language  of  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones 
came  out  to  me.  The  actual  colonel  I  had  never 
seen  before.  He  stood  at  the  rear  of  his  palace 
in  gray  flowery  mustaches  and  a  Confederate  uni 
form,  telling  the  wishes  of  his  guests  to  the  cook 
through  a  hole.  You  always  bought  meal  tickets 
at  once,  else  you  became  unwelcome.  Guests 
here  had  foibles  at  times,  and  a  rapid  exit  was  too 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  149 

easy.  Therefore  I  bought  a  ticket.  It  was  spring 
and  summer  since  I  had  heard  anything  like  the 
colonel.  The  Missouri  had  not  yet  flowed  into 
New  York  dialect  freely,  and  his  vocabulary  met 
me  like  the  breeze  of  the  plains.  So  I  went  in  to 
be  fanned  by  it,  and  there  sat  the  Virginian  at  a 
table,  alone. 

His  greeting  was  up  to  the  code  of  indifference 
proper  on  the  plains ;  but  he  presently  remarked, 
"  I'm  right  glad  to  see  somebody,"  which  was  a 
good  deal  to  say.  "  Them  that  comes  hyeh,"  he 
observed  next,  "  don't  eat.  They  feed."  And  he 
considered  the  guests  with  a  sombre  attention. 
"  D'  yu'  reckon  they  find  joyful  di-gestion  in  this 
swallo'-an '-get-out  trough  ?  " 

"  What  are  you  doing  here,  then  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Oh,  pshaw !  When  yu'  can't  have  what  you 
choose,  yu'  just  choose  what  you  have."  And  he 
took  the  bill-of-fare.  I  began  to  know  that  he 
had  something  on  his  mind,  so  I  did  not  trouble 
him  further. 

Meanwhile  he  sat  studying  the  bill-of-fare. 

"  Ever  heard  o'  them  ? "  he  inquired,  shoving 
me  the  spotted  document. 

Most  improbable  dishes  were  there,  —  salmis, 
canapes,  supremes,  —  all  perfectly  spelt  and  abso 
lutely  transparent.  It  was  the  old  trick  of  copy 
ing  some  metropolitan  menu  to  catch  travellers  of 
the  third  and  last  dimension  of  innocence ;  and 
whenever  this  is  done  the  food  is  of  the  third  and 
last  dimension  of  awfulness,  which  the  cow-puncher 
knew  as  well  as  anybody. 

"  So  they  keep  that  up  here  still,"  I  said. 

"  But  what  about  them  ?  "   he    repeated.     His 


150  THE  VIRGINIAN 

finger  was  at  a  special  item,  Frogs  legs  a  la 
Delmonico.  "  Are  they  true  anywheres ? "  he  asked. 
And  I  told  him,  certainly.  I  also  explained  to  him 
about  Delmonico  of  New  York  and  about  Augus- 
tin  of  Philadelphia. 

"  There's  not  a  little  bit  o'  use  in  lyin'  to  me 
this  mawnin',"  he  said,  with  his  engaging  smile. 
"  I  ain't  goin'  to  awdeh  anything's  laigs." 

"  Well,  I'll  see  how  he  gets  out  of  it,"  I  said, 
remembering  the  old  Texas  legend.  (The  trav 
eller  read  the  bill-of-fare,  you  know,  and  called  for 
a  vol-au-vent.  And  the  proprietor  looked  at  the 
traveller,  and  running  a  pistol  into  his  ear,  observed, 
"  You'll  take  hash.")  I  was  thinking  of  this  and 
wondering  what  would  happen  to  me.  So  I  took 
the  step. 

"  Wants  frogs'  legs,  does  he  ?  "  shouted  Colonel 
Cyrus  Jones.  He  fixed  his  eye  upon  me,  and  it 
narrowed  to  a  slit.  "  Too  many  brain  workers 
breakfasting  before  yu'  came  in,  professor,"  said  he. 
"  Missionary  ate  the  last  leg  off  me  just  now.  Brown 
the  wheat ! "  he  commanded,  through  the  hole  to 
the  cook,  for  some  one  had  ordered  hot  cakes. 

"  I'll  have  fried  aiggs,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"Cooked  both  sides." 

"  White  wings  !  "  sang  the  colonel  through  the 
hole.  "  Let  'em  fly  up  and  down." 

"  Coffee  an'  no  milk,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  Draw  one  in  the  dark !  "  the  colonel  roared. 

"  And  beefsteak,  rare." 

"  One  slaughter  in  the  pan,  and  let  the  blood 
drip ! " 

"  I  should  like  a  glass  of  water,  please,"  said  I. 

The  colonel  threw  me  a  look  of  pity. 


THE   GAME   AND   THE    NATION  151 

"  One  Missouri  and  ice  for  the  professor ! "  he 
said. 

"  That  fello's  a  right  live  man,"  commented  the 
Virginian.  But  he  seemed  thoughtful.  Presently 
he  inquired,  "  Yu'  say  he  was  a  foreigner,  an' 
learned  fancy  cookin'  to  New  Yawk  ?  " 

That  was  this  cow-puncher's  way.  Scarcely 
ever  would  he  let  drop  a  thing  new  to  him  until 
he  had  got  from  you  your  whole  information 
about  it.  So  I  told  him  the  history  of  Lorenzo 
Delmonico  and  his  pioneer  work,  as  much  as  I 
knew,  and  the  Southerner  listened  intently. 

"  Mighty  inter-estin',"  he  said  —  "  mighty.  He 
could  just  take  little  old  o'rn'ry  frawgs,  and  dandy 
'em  up  to  suit  the  bloods.  Mighty  inter-estin'. 
I  expaict,  though,  his  cookin'  would  give  an  out- 
raiged  stomach  to  a  plain-raised  man." 

"  If  you  want  to  follow  it  up,"  said  I,  by  way  of 
a  sudden  experiment,  "  Miss  Molly  Wood  might 
have  some  book  about  French  dishes." 

But  the  Virginian  did  not  turn  a  hair.  "  I 
reckon  she  wouldn't,"  he  answered.  "  She  was 
raised  in  Vermont.  They  don't  bother  overly 
about  their  eatin'  up  in  Vermont.  Hyeh's  what 
Miss  Wood  recommended  the  las'  time  I  was 
seein'  her,"  the  cow-puncher  added,  bringing 
Kenilworth  from  his  pocket.  "  Right  fine  story. 
That  Queen  Elizabeth  must  have  cert'nly  been  a 
competent  woman." 

"  She  was,"  said  I.  But  talk  came  to  an  end 
here.  A  dusty  crew,  most  evidently  from  the 
plains,  now  entered  and  drifted  to  a  table ;  and 
each  man  of  them  gave  the  Virginian  about  a 
quarter  of  a  slouchy  nod.  His  greeting  to  them 


i5 2  THE   VIRGINIAN 

was  very  serene.  Only,  Kenilworth  went  back 
into  his  pocket,  and  he  breakfasted  in  silence. 
Among  those  who  had  greeted  him  I  now  recog 
nized  a  face. 

"  Why,  that's  the  man  you  played  cards  with  at 
Medicine  Bow  !  "  I  said. 

"  Yes.  Trampas.  He's  got  a  job  at  the  ranch 
now."  The  Virginian  said  no  more,  but  went  on 
with  his  breakfast- 

His  appearance  was  changed.  Aged  I  would 
scarcely  say,  for  this  would  seem  as  if  he  did 
not  look  young.  But  I  think  that  the  boy  was 
altogether  gone  from  his  face  —  the  boy  whose 
freak  with  Steve  had  turned  Medicine  Bow 
upside  down,  whose  other  freak  with  the  babies 
had  outraged  Bear  Creek,  the  boy  who  had  loved 
to  jingle  his  spurs.  But  manhood  had  only 
trained,  not  broken,  his  youth.  It  was  all  there, 
only  obedient  to  the  rein  and  curb. 

Presently  we  went  together  to  the  railway  yard. 

"  The  Judge  is  doing  a  right  smart  o'  business 
this  year,"  he  began,  very  casually  indeed,  so 
that  I  knew  this  was  important.  Besides  bells 
and  coal  smoke,  the  smell  and  crowded  sounds 
of  cattle  rose  in  the  air  around  us.  "  Hyeh's  our 
first  gather  o'  beeves  on  the  ranch,"  continued  the 
Virginian.  "  The  whole  lot's  shipped  through 
to  Chicago  in  two  sections  over  the  Burlington. 
The  Judge  is  fighting  the  Elkhorn  road."  We 
passed  slowly  along  the  two  trains,  —  twenty 
cars,  each  car  packed  with  huddled,  round-eyed, 
gazing  steers.  He  examined  to  see  if  any  animals 
were  down.  "  They  ain't  ate  or  drank  anything 
to  speak  of,"  he  said,  while  the  terrified  brutes 


THE    GAME   AND   THE   NATION  153 

stared  at  us  through  their  slats.  "  Not  since 
they  struck  the  railroad  they've  not  drank.  Yu' 
might  suppose  they  know  somehow  what  they're 
travellin'  to  Chicago  for."  And  casually,  always 
casually,  he  told  me  the  rest.  Judge  Henry  could 
not  spare  his  foreman  away  from  the  second 
gather  of  beeves.  Therefore  these  two  ten-car 
trains  with  their  double  crew  of  cow-boys  had 
been  given  to  the  Virginian's  charge.  After 
Chicago,  he  was  to  return  by  St.  Paul  over  the 
Northern  Pacific ;  for  the  Judge  had  wished  him 
to  see  certain  of  the  road's  directors  and  explain 
to  them  persuasively  how  good  a  thing  it  would 
be  for  them  to  allow  especially  cheap  rates  to  the 
Sunk  Creek  outfit  henceforth.  This  was  all  the 
Virginian  told  me ;  and  it  contained  the  whole 
matter,  to  be  sure. 

"  So  you're  acting  foreman,"  said  I. 

u  Why,  somebody  has  to  have  the  say,  I 
reckon." 

"  And  of  course  you  hated  the  promotion  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  about  promotion,"  he  replied. 
"  The  boys  have  been  used  to  seein'  me  one  of 
themselves.  Why  don't  you  come  along  with  us 
far  as  Plattsmouth  ?  "  Thus  he  shifted  the  sub 
ject  from  himself,  and  called  to  my  notice  the 
locomotives  backing  up  to  his  cars,  and  reminded 
me  that  from  Plattsmouth  I  had  the  choice  of 
two  trains  returning.  But  he  could  not  hide  or 
belittle  this  confidence  of  his  employer  in  him. 
It  was  the  care  of  several  thousand  perishable 
dollars  and  the  control  of  men.  It  was  a  compli 
ment.  There  were  more  steers  than  men  to  be 
responsible  for ;  but  none  of  the  steers  had  been 


154  THE   VIRGINIAN 

suddenly  picked  from  the  herd  and  set  above 
his  fellows.  Moreover,  Chicago  finished  up  the 
steers;  but  the  new-made  deputy  foreman  had 
then  to  lead  his  six  highly  unoccupied  brethren 
away  from  towns,  and  back  in  peace  to  the  ranch, 
or  disappoint  the  Judge,  who  needed  their  ser 
vices.  These  things  sometimes  go  wrong  in  a 
land  where  they  say  you  are  all  born  equal ;  and 
that  quarter  of  a  nod  in  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones's 
eating  palace  held  more  equality  than  any  whole 
nod  you  could  see.  But  the  Virginian  did  not 
see  it,  there  being  a  time  for  all  things. 

We  trundled  down  the  flopping,  heavy-eddied 
Missouri  to  Plattsmouth,  and  there  they  backed 
us  on  to  a  siding,  the  Christian  Endeavor  being 
expected  to  pass  that  way.  And  while  the  equal 
ity  absorbed  themselves  in  a  deep  but  harmless 
game  of  poker  by  the  side  of  the  railway  line,  the 
Virginian  and  I  sat  on  the  top  of  a  car,  contem 
plating  the  sandy  shallows  of  the  Platte. 

"  I  should  think  you'd  take  a  hand,"  said  I. 

"  Poker  ?  With  them  kittens  ?  "  One  flash  of 
the  inner  man  lightened  in  his  eyes  and  died 
away,  and  he  finished  with  his  gentle  drawl, 
"  When  I  play,  I  want  it  to  be  interestin'."  He 
took  out  Sir  Walter's  Kenilworth  once  more,  and 
turned  the  volume  over  and  over  slowly,  without 
opening  it.  You  cannot  tell  if  in  spirit  he 
wandered  on  Bear  Creek  with  the  girl  whose 
book  it  was.  The  spirit  will  go  one  road,  and 
the  thought  another,  and  the  body  its  own  way 
sometimes.  "  Queen  Elizabeth  would  have  playec 
a  mighty  pow'ful  game,"  was  his  next  remark. 

"  Poker  ?  "  said  I. 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  155 

"  Yes,  seh.  Do  you  expaict  Europe  has  got 
any  queen  equal  to  her  at  present  ?  " 

I  doubted  it. 

"  Victoria'd  get  pretty  nigh  slain  sliding  chips 
out  agaynst  Elizabeth.  Only  mos'  prob'ly  Vic 
toria  she'd  insist  on  a  half-cent  limit.  You  have 
read  this  hyeh  Kenilwortk  ?  Well,  deal  Elizabeth 
ace  high,  an'  she  could  scare  Robert  Dudley  with 
a  full  house  plumb  out  o'  the  bettin'." 

I  said  that  I  believed  she  unquestionably  could. 

"  And,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  if  Essex's  play  got 
next  her  too  near,  I  reckon  she'd  have  stacked  the 
cyards.  Say,  d'  yu'  remember  Shakespeare's  fat 
man  ? " 

"  FalstafT  ?     Oh,  yes,  indeed." 

"  Ain't  that  grand  ?  Why,  he  makes  men  talk 
the  way  they  do  in  life.  I  reckon  he  couldn't  get 
printed  to-day.  It's  a  right  down  shame  Shake 
speare  couldn't  know  about  poker.  He'd  have 
had  Falstaff  playing  all  day  at  that  Tearsheet 
outfit.  And  the  Prince  would  have  beat  him." 

"  The  Prince  had  the  brains,"  said  I. 

"  Brains  ? " 

"  Well,  didn't  he  ?  " 

"  I  neveh  thought  to  notice.  Like  as  not  he 
did." 

"  And  Falstaff   didn't,   I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  seh !  Falstaff  could  have  played 
whist." 

"  I  suppose  you  know  what  you're  talking  about ; 
I  don't,"  said  I,  for  he  was  drawling  again. 

The  cow-puncher's  eye  rested  a  moment  amiably 
upon  me.  "  You  can  play  whist  with  your  brains," 
he  mused,  —  "  brains  and  cyards.  Now  cyards  are 


156  THE   VIRGINIAN 

only  one  o'  the  manifestations  of  poker  in  this 
hyeh  world.  One  o'  the  shapes  yu'  fool  with  it  in 
when  the  day's  work  is  oveh.  If  a  man  is  built 
like  that  Prince  boy  was  built  (and  it's  away  down 
deep  beyond  brains),  he'll  play  winnin'  poker  with 
whatever  hand  he's  holdin'  when  the  trouble  be 
gins.  Maybe  it  will  be  a  mean,  triflin'  army,  or 
an  empty  six-shooter,  or  a  lame  hawss,  or  maybe 
just  nothin'  but  his  natural  countenance.  'Most 
any  old  thing  will  do  for  a  fello'  like  that  Prince 
boy  to  play  poker  with." 

"  Then  I'd  be  grateful  for  your  definition  of 
poker,"  said  I. 

Again  the  Virginian  looked  me  over  amiably. 
"  You  put  up  a  mighty  pretty  game  o'  whist  your 
self,"  he  remarked.  "  Don't  that  give  you  the 
contented  spirit  ? "  And  before  I  had  any  reply 
to  this,  the  Christian  Endeavor  began  to  come 
over  the  bridge.  Three  instalments  crossed  the 
Missouri  from  Pacific  Junction,  bound  for  Pike's 
Peak,  every  car  swathed  in  bright  bunting,  and  at 
each  window  a  Christian  with  a  handkerchief,  joy 
ously  shrieking.  Then  the  cattle  trains  got  the 
open  signal,  and  I  jumped  off. 

"  Tell  the  Judge  the  steers  was  all  right  this 
far,"  said  the  Virginian. 

That  was  the  last  of  the  deputy  foreman  for  a 
while. 


XIV 

BETWEEN    THE    ACTS 

MY  road  to  Sunk  Creek  lay  in  no  straight  line. 
By  rail  I  diverged  northwest  to  Fort  Meade,  and 
thence,  after  some  stay  with  the  kind  military 
people,  I  made  my  way  on  a  horse.  Up  here  in 
the  Black  Hills  it  sluiced  rain  most  intolerably. 
The  horse  and  I  enjoyed  the  country  and  our 
selves  but  little  ;  and  when  finally  I  changed  from 
the  saddle  into  a  stage-coach,  I  caught  a  thankful 
expression  upon  the  animal's  face,  and  returned 
the  same. 

"  Six  legs  inside  this  jerky  to-night  ?  "  said 
somebody,  as  I  climbed  the  wheel.  "  Well,  we'll 
give  thanks  for  not  havin'  eight,"  he  added  cheer 
fully.  "  Clamp  your  mind  on  to  that,  Shorty." 
And  he  slapped  the  shoulder  of  his  neighbor. 
Naturally  I  took  these  two  for  old  companions. 
But  we  were  all  total  strangers.  They  told  me 
of  the  new  gold  excitement  at  Rawhide,  and  sup 
posed  it  would  bring  up  the  Northern  Pacific; 
and  when  I  explained  the  millions  owed  to  this 
road's  German  bondholders,  they  were  of  opinion 
that  a  German  would  strike  it  richer  at  Rawhide. 
We  spoke  of  all  sorts  of  things,  and  in  our  silence 
I  gloated  on  the  autumn  holiday  promised  me 
by  Judge  Henry.  His  last  letter  had  said  that  an 
outfit  would  be  starting  for  his  ranch  from  Bill- 

'57 


158  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ings  on  the  seventh,  and  he  would  have  a  horse 
for  me.  This  was  the  fifth.  So  we  six  legs  in 
the  jerky  travelled  harmoniously  on  over  the  rain- 
gutted  road,  getting  no  deeper  knowledge  of  each 
other  than  what  our  outsides  might  imply. 

Not  that  we  concealed  anything.  The  man 
who  had  slapped  Shorty  introduced  himself  early. 
"  Scipio  le  Moyne,  from  Gallipolice,  Ohio,"  he 
said.  "  The  eldest  of  us  always  gets  called  Scipio. 
It's  French.  But  us  folks  have  been  white  for  a 
hundred  years."  He  was  limber  and  light-muscled, 
and  fell  skilfully  about,  evading  bruises  when  the 
jerky  reeled  or  rose  on  end.  He  had  a  strange, 
long,  jocular  nose,  very  wary-looking,  and  a 
bleached  blue  eye.  Cattle  was  his  business,  as 
a  rule,  but  of  late  he  had  been  "looking  around 
some,"  and  Rawhide  seemed  much  on  his  brain. 
Shorty  struck  me  as  "  looking  around  "  also.  He 
was  quite  short,  indeed,  and  the  jerky  hurt  him 
almost  every  time.  He  was  light-haired  and 
mild.  Think  of  a  yellow  dog  that  is  lost,  and 
fancies  each  newcomer  in  sight  is  going  to  turn 
out  his  master,  and  you  will  have  Shorty. 

It  was  the  Northern  Pacific  that  surprised  us 
into  intimacy.  We  were  nearing  Medora.  We 
had  made  a  last  arrangement  of  our  legs.  I  lay 
stretched  in  silence,  placid  in  the  knowledge  it 
was  soon  to  end.  So  I  drowsed.  I  felt  some 
thing  sudden,  and,  waking,  saw  Scipio  passing 
through  the  air.  As  Shorty  next  shot  from  the 
jerky,  I  beheld  smoke  and  the  locomotive.  The 
Northern  Pacific  had  changed  its  schedule.  A 
valise  is  a  poor  companion  for  catching  a  train 
with.  There  was  rutted  sand  and  lumpy,  knee- 


BETWEEN   THE   ACTS  159 

high  grease  wood  in  our  short  cut.  A  piece  of 
stray  wire  sprang  from  some  hole  and  hung  cara 
coling  about  my  ankle.  Tin  cans  spun  from  my 
stride.  But  we  made  a  conspicuous  race.  Two 
of  us  waved  hats,  and  there  was  no  moment  that 
some  one  of  us  was  not  screeching.  It  meant 
twenty-four  hours  to  us. 

Perhaps  we  failed  to  catch  the  train's  attention, 
though  the  theory  seems  monstrous.  As  it  moved 
off  in  our  faces,  smooth  and  easy  and  insulting, 
Scipio  dropped  instantly  to  a  walk,  and  we  two 
others  outstripped  him  and  came  desperately  to 
the  empty  track.  There  went  the  train.  Even 
still  its  puffs  were  the  separated  puffs  of  starting, 
that  bitten-off,  snorty  kind,  and  sweat  and  our  true 
natures  broke  freely  forth. 

I  kicked  my  valise,  and  then  sat  on  it,  dumb. 

Shorty  yielded  himself  up  aloud.  All  his 
humble  secrets  came  out  of  him.  He  walked 
aimlessly  round,  lamenting.  He  had  lost  his  job, 
and  he  mentioned  the  ranch.  He  had  played 
cards,  and  he  mentioned  the  man.  He  had  sold 
his  horse  and  saddle  to  catch  a  friend  on  this 
train,  and  he  mentioned  what  the  friend  had  been 
going  to  do  for  him.  He  told  a  string  of  griefs 
and  names  to  the  air,  as  if  the  air  knew. 

Meanwhile  Scipio  arrived  with  extreme  leisure 
at  the  rails.  He  stuck  his  hands  into  his  pockets 
and  his  head  out  at  the  very  small  train.  His 
bleached  blue  eyes  shut  to  slits  as  he  watched  the 
rear  car  in  its  smoke-blur  ooze  away  westward 
among  the  mounded  bluffs.  "  Lucky  it's  out  of 
range,"  I  thought.  But  now  Scipio  spoke  to  it. 

u  Why,  you  seem  to  think  you've  left  me  be- 


160  THE   VIRGINIAN 

hind,"  he  began  easily,  in  fawning  tones.  "  You're 
too  much  of  a  kid  to  have  such  thoughts.  Age 
some."  His  next  remark  grew  less  wheedling. 
"  I  wouldn't  be  a  bit  proud  to  meet  yu'.  Why,  if 
I  was  seen  travellin'  with  yu',  I'd  have  to  explain 
it  to  my  friends  !  Think  you've  got  me  left,  do  yu'  ? 
Just  because  yu'  ride  through  this  country  on  a 
rail,  do  yu'  claim  yu'  can  find  your  way  around  ? 
I  could  take  yu'  out  ten  yards  in  the  brush  and 
lose  yu'  in  ten  seconds,  you  spangle-roofed  hobo  ! 
Leave  me  behind?  you  recent  blanket-mortgage 
yearlin' !  You  plush-lined,  nickel-plated,  whistlin' 
wash  room,  d'  yu'  figure  I  can't  go  east  just  as  soon 
as  west?  Or  I'll  stay  right  here  if  it  suits  me,  yu' 
dude-inhabited  hot-box !  Why,  yu'  coon-bossed 
face-towel  — "  But  from  here  he  rose  in  flights 
of  novelty  that  appalled  and  held  me  spellbound, 
and  which  are  not  for  me  to  say  to  you.  Then 
he  came  down  easily  again,  and  finished  with  ex 
pressions  of  sympathy  for  it  because  it  could  never 
have  known  a  mother. 

"  Do  you  expaict  it  could  show  a  male  parent 
offhand  ?  "  inquired  a  slow  voice  behind  us.  I 
jumped  round,  and  there  was  the  Virginian. 

"  Male  parent !  "  scoffed  the  prompt  Scipio. 
"  Ain't  you  heard  about  them  yet  ?  " 

"  Them  ?     Was  there  two  ?  " 

"  Two  ?  The  blamed  thing  was  sired  by  a 
whole  doggone  Dutch  syndicate." 

"  Why,  the  piebald  son  of  a  gun !  "  responded 
the  Virginian,  sweetly.  "  I  got  them  steers 
through  all  right,"  he  added  to  me.  "Sorry  to 
see  yu'  get  so  out  o'  breath  afteh  the  train.  Is 
your  valise  sufferin'  any  ?  " 


BETWEEN  THE  ACTS  161 

"  Who's  he  ?  "  inquired  Scipio,  curiously,  turn 
ing  to  me. 

The  Southerner  sat  with  a  newspaper  on  the 
rear  platform  of  a  caboose.  The  caboose  stood 
hitched  behind  a  mile  or  so  of  freight  train,  and 
the  train  was  headed  west.  So  here  was  the 
deputy  foreman,  his  steers  delivered  in  Chicago, 
his  men  (I  could  hear  them)  safe  in  the  caboose, 
his  paper  in  his  lap,  and  his  legs  dangling  at  ease 
over  the  railing.  He  wore  the  look  of  a  man  for 
whom  things  are  going  smooth.  And  for  me  the 
way  to  Billings  was  smooth  now,  also. 

"  Who's  he  ?  "  Scipio  repeated. 

But  from  inside  the  caboose  loud  laughter  and 
noise  broke  on  us.  Some  one  was  reciting  "  And 
it's  my  night  to  howl." 

"  We'll  all  howl  when  we  get  to  Rawhide,"  said 
some  other  one  ;  and  they  howled  now. 

"  These  hyeh  steam  cyars,"  said  the  Virginian  to 
Scipio,  "  make  a  man's  language  mighty  nigh  as 
speedy  as  his  travel."  Of  Shorty  he  took  no 
notice  whatever  —  no  more  than  of  the  manifesta 
tions  in  the  caboose. 

"  So  yu'  heard  me  speakin'  to  the  express,"  said 
Scipio.  "Well,  I  guess,  sometimes  I —  See 
here,"  he  exclaimed,  for  the  Virginian  was  gravely 
considering  him,  "  I  may  have  talked  some,  but  I 
walked  a  whole  lot.  You  didn't  catch  me  squan 
dering  no  speed.  Soon  as  —  " 

"  I  noticed,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  thinkin'  came 
quicker  to  yu'  than  runnin'." 

I  was  glad  I  was  not  Shorty,  to  have  my  measure 
taken  merely  by  my  way  of  missing  a  train.  And 
of  course  I  was  sorry  that  I  had  kicked  my  valise. 


1 62  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  Oh,  I  could  tell  yu'd  been  enjoyin'  us !  "  said 
Scipio.  "  Observin'  somebody  else's  scrape  always 
kind  o'  rests  me  too.  Maybe  you're  a  philosopher, 
but  maybe  there's  a  pair  of  us  drawd  in  this  deal." 

Approval  now  grew  plain  upon  the  face  of  the 
Virginian.  u  By  your  laigs,"  said  he,  "  you  are 
used  to  the  saddle." 

"  I'd  be  called  used  to  it,  I  expect" 

"  By  your  hands,"  said  the  Southerner,  again, 
"  you  ain't  roped  many  steers  lately.  Been  cookin' 
or  something  ?  " 

"  Say,"  retorted  Scipio,  "  tell  my  future  some 
now.  Draw  a  conclusion  from  my  mouth." 

"  I'm  right  distressed,"  answered  the  gentle 
Southerner,  "we've  not  a  drop  in  the  outfit." 

"  Oh,  drink  with  me  uptown !  "  cried  Scipio. 
"  I'm  pleased  to  death  with  yu'." 

The  Virginian  glanced  where  the  saloons  stood 
just  behind  the  station,  and  shook  his  head. 

"  Why,  it  ain't  a  bit  far  to  whiskey  from  here !  " 
urged  the  other,  plaintively.  "  Step  down,  now. 
Scipio  le  Moyne's  my  name.  Yes,  you're  lookin' 
for  my  brass  ear-rings.  But  there  ain't  no  ear 
rings  on  me.  I've  been  white  for  a  hundred 
years.  Step  down.  I've  a  forty-dollar  thirst." 

"  You're  certainly  white,"  began  the  Virginian. 
"But  —  " 

Here  the  caboose  resumed :  — 


"  I'm  wild,  and  woolly,  and  full  of  fleas  ; 
I'm  hard  to  curry  above  the  knees ; 
I'm  a  she-wolf  from  Bitter  Creek,  and 
It's  my  night  to  ho-o-wl  —  " 


And  as  they  howled  and  stamped,  the  wheels  of 
the  caboose  began  to  turn  gently  and  to  murmur. 


BETWEEN   THE   ACTS  163 

The  Virginian  rose  suddenly.  "  Will  yu'  save 
that  thirst  and  take  a  forty-dollar  job  ?  " 

"  Missin'  trains,  profanity,  or  what  ?  "  said  Scipio. 

"  I'll  tell  yu'  soon  as  I'm  sure." 

At  this  Scipio  looked  hard  at  the  Virginian. 
"  Why,  you're  talkin'  business ! "  said  he,  and 
leaped  on  the  caboose,  where  I  was  already.  "  I 
was  thinkin'  of  Rawhide,"  he  added,  "  but  I  ain't 
any  more." 

"  Well,  good  luck ! "  said  Shorty,  on  the  track 
behind  us. 

"  Oh,  say ! "  said  Scipio,  "  he  wanted  to  go  on 
that  train,  just  like  me." 

"Get  on,"  called  the  Virginian.  "But  as  to 
getting  a  job,  he  ain't  just  like  you."  So  Shorty 
came,  like  a  lost  dog  when  you  whistle  to  him. 

Our  wheels  clucked  over  the  main-line  switch. 
A  train-hand  threw  it  shut  after  us,  jumped  aboard, 
and  returned  forward  over  the  roofs.  Inside  the 
caboose  they  had  reached  the  third  howling  of  the 
she-wolf. 

"  Friends  of  yourn  ?  "  said  Scipio. 

"  My  outfit,"  drawled  the  Virginian. 

"  Do  yu'  always  travel  outside?  "  inquired  Scipio. 

"  It's  lonesome  in  there,"  returned  the  deputy 
foreman.  And  here  one  of  them  c'ame  out,  slam 
ming  the  door. 

"  Hell ! "  he  said,  at  sight  of  the  distant  town. 
Then,  truculently,  to  the  Virginian,  "  I  told  you  I 
was  going  to  get  a  bottle  here." 

"  Have  your  bottle,  then,"  said  the  deputy 
foreman,  and  kicked  him  off  into  Dakota.  (It  was 
not  North  Dakota  yet ;  they  had  not  divided  it.) 
The  Virginian  had  aimed  his  pistol  at  about  the 


i64 


THE  VIRGINIAN 


same  time  with  his  boot.  Therefore  the  man  sat 
in  Dakota  quietly,  watching  us  go  away  into 
Montana,  and  offering  no  objections.  Just  be 
fore  he  became  too  small  to  make  out,  we  saw 
him  rise  and  remove  himself  back  toward  the 
saloons. 


XV 

THE    GAME    AND   THE    NATION ACT    SECOND 

"  THAT  is  the  only  step  I  have  had  to  take  this 
whole  trip,"  said  the  Virginian.  He  holstered  his 
pistol  with  a  jerk.  "  I  have  been  fearing  he  would 
force  it  on  me."  And  he  looked  at  empty,  reced 
ing  Dakota  with  disgust.  "  So  nyeh  back  home !  " 
he  muttered. 

"  Known  your  friend  long  ?  "  whispered  Scipio 
to  me. 

"  Fairly,"  I  answered. 

Scipio's  bleached  eyes  brightened  with  admi 
ration  as  he  considered  the  Southerner's  back. 
"Well,"  he  stated  judicially,  "start  awful  early 
when  yu'  go  to  fool  with  him,  or  he'll  make  you 
feel  onpunctual." 

"  I  expaict  I've  had  them  almost  all  of  three 
thousand  miles,"  said  the  Virginian,  tilting  his 
head  toward  the  noise  in  the  caboose.  "  And 
I've  strove  to  deliver  them  back  as  I  received 
them.  The  whole  lot.  And  I  would  have.  But 
he  has  spoiled  my  hopes."  The  deputy  foreman 
looked  again  at  Dakota.  "  It's  a  disappointment," 
he  added.  "  You  may  know  what  I  mean." 

I  had  known  a  little,  but  not  to  the  very  deep, 
of  the  man's  pride  and  purpose  in  this  trust. 
Scipio  gave  him  sympathy.  "  There  must  be 

165 


1 66  THE   VIRGINIAN 

quite  a  balance  of  'em  left  with  yu'  yet,"  said 
Scipio,  cheeringly. 

"  I  had  the  boys  plumb  contented,"  pursued  the 
deputy  foreman,  hurt  into  open  talk  of  himself. 
"  Away  along  as  far  as  Saynt  Paul  I  had  them 
reconciled  to  my  authority.  Then  this  news 
about  gold  had  to  strike  us." 

"  And  they're  a-dreamin'  nuggets  and  Parisian 
bowleyvards,"  suggested  Scipio.  } 

The  Virginian  smiled  gratefully  at  him. 

"  Fortune  is  shinin'  bright  and  blindin'  to 
their  delicate  young  eyes,"  he  said,  regaining  his 
usual  self. 

We  all  listened  a  moment  to  the  rejoicings 
within. 

"  Energetic,  ain't  they  ? "  said  the  Southerner. 
"  But  none  of  'em  was  whelped  savage  enough  to 
sing  himself  bloodthirsty.  And  though  they're 
strainin'  mighty  earnest  not  to  be  tame,  they're 
goin'  back  to  Sunk  Creek  with  me  accordin' 
to  the  Judge's  awdehs.  Never  a  calf  of  them 
will  desert  to  Rawhide,  for  all  their  dangerous- 
ness  ;  nor  I  ain't  goin'  to  have  any  fuss  over  it. 
Only  one  is  left  now  that  don't  sing.  Maybe  I 
will  have  to  make  some  arrangements  about  him. 
The  man  I  have  parted  with,"  he  said,  with  another 
glance  at  Dakota,  "  was  our  cook,  and  I  will  ask 
yu'  to  replace  him,  Colonel." 

Scipio  gaped  wide.  "  Colonel !  Say !  "  He 
stared  at  the  Virginian.  "  Did  I  meet  yu'  at  the 
palace  ? " 

"  Not  exackly  meet,"  replied  the  Southerner. 
"  I  was  praisent  one  mawnin'  las'  month  when 
this  gentleman  awdehed  frawgs'  laigs." 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  167 

"  Sakes  and  saints,  but  that  was  a  mean  posi 
tion  !  "  burst  out  Scipio.  "  I  had  to  tell  all  comers 
anything  all  day.  Stand  up  and  jump  language 
hot  off  my  brain  at  'em.  And  the  pay  don't  near 
compensate  for  the  drain  on  the  system.  I  don't 
care  how  good  a  man  is,  you  let  him  keep  a-tap- 
pin'  his  presence  of  mind  right  along,  without 
takin'  a  lay-off,  and  you'll  have  him  sick.  Yes, 
sir.  You'll  hit  his  nerves.  So  I  told  them  they 
could  hire  some  fresh  man,  for  I  was  goin'  back 
to  punch  cattle  or  fight  Indians,  or  take  a  rest 
somehow,  for  I  didn't  propose  to  get  jaded,  and 
me  only  twenty-five  years  old.  There  ain't  no 
regular  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones  any  more,  yu'  know. 
He  met  a  Cheyenne  telegraph  pole  in  seventy- 
four,  and  was  buried.  But  his  palace  was  doin' 
big  business,  and  he  had  been  a  kind  of  attrac 
tion,  and  so  they  always  keep  a  live  bear  outside, 
and  some  poor  fello',  fixed  up  like  the  Colonel 
used  to  be,  inside.  And  it's  a  turruble  mean 
position.  Course  I'll  cook  for  yu'.  Yu've  a  dandy 
memory  for  faces  ! " 

"  I  wasn't  right  convinced  till  I  kicked  him  off 
and  you  gave  that  shut  to  your  eyes  again,"  said 
the  Virginian. 

Once  more  the  door  opened.  A  man  with 
slim  black  eyebrows,  slim  black  mustache,  and  a 
black  shirt  tied  with  a  white  handkerchief  was 
looking  steadily  from  one  to  the  other  of  us. 

"  Good  day !  "  he  remarked  generally  and  with 
out  enthusiasm ;  and  to  the  Virginian,  "  Where's 
Schoff  ner  ? " 

"  I  expaict  he'll  have  got  his  bottle  by  now, 
Trampas." 


1 68  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Trampas  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of  us 
again.  "  Didn't  he  say  he  was  coming  back  ?  " 

"  He  reminded  me  he  was  going  for  a  bottle, 
and  afteh  that  he  didn't  wait  to  say  a  thing." 

Trampas  looked  at  the  platform  and  the  rail 
ing  and  the  steps.  "  He  told  me  he  was  coming 
back,"  he  insisted. 

"  I  don't  reckon  he  has  come,  not  without  he 
clumb  up  ahaid  somewhere.  An'  I  mus'  say, 
when  he  got  off  he  didn't  look  like  a  man  does 
when  he  has  the  intention  o'  returnin'." 

At  this  Scipio  coughed,  and  pared  his  nails 
attentively.  We  had  already  been  avoiding  each 
other's  eye.  Shorty  did  not  count.  Since  he 
got  aboard,  his  meek  seat  had  been  the  bottom 
step. 

The  thoughts  of  Trampas  seemed  to  be  in 
difficulty.  "  How  long's  this  train  been  started  ?  " 
he  demanded. 

"  This  hyeh  train  ?  "  The  Virginian  consulted 
his  watch.  "  Why,  it's  been  fanning  it  a  right 
smart  little  while,"  said  he,  laying  no  stress  upon 
his  indolent  syllables. 

"  Huh !  "  went  Trampas.  He  gave  the  rest  of 
us  a  final  unlovely  scrutiny.  "  It  seems  to  have 
become  a  passenger  train,"  he  said.  And  he 
returned  abruptly  inside  the  caboose. 

"  Is  he  the  member  who  don't  sing  ? "  asked 
Scipio. 

"  That's  the  specimen,"  replied  the  Southerner. 

"  He  don't  seem  musical  in  the  face,"  said  Scipio. 

"  Pshaw !  "  returned  the  Virginian.  "  Why,  you 
surely  ain't  the  man  to  mind  ugly  mugs  when 
they're  hollow!" 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  169 

The  noise  inside  had  dropped  quickly  to  still 
ness.  You  could  scarcely  catch  the  sound  of 
talk.  Our  caboose  was  clicking  comfortably 
westward,  rail  after  rail,  mile  upon  mile,  while 
night  was  beginning  to  rise  from  earth  into  the 
clouded  sky. 

"  I  wonder  if  they  have  sent  a  search  party 
forward  to  hunt  Schoff ner  ?  "  said  the  Virginian. 
"  I  think  I'll  maybe  join  their  meeting."  He 
opened  the  door  upon  them.  "  Kind  o'  dark 
hyeh,  ain't  it  ? "  said  he.  And  lighting  the  lan 
tern,  he  shut  us  out. 

"What  do  yu'  think?"  said  Scipio  to  me. 
"Will  he  take  them  to  Sunk  Creek?" 

"  He  evidently  thinks  he  will,"  said  I.  "  He 
says  he  will,  and  he  has  the  courage  of  his  con 
victions." 

"  That  ain't  near  enough  courage  to  have !  " 
Scipio  exclaimed.  "  There's  times  in  life  when 
a  man  has  got  to  have  courage  without  convic 
tions  —  without  them  —  or  he  is  no  good.  Now 
your  friend  is  that  deep  constitooted  that  you 
don't  know  and  I  don't  know  what  he's  thinkin' 
about  all  this." 

"  If  there's  to  be  any  gun-play,"  put  in  the  ex 
cellent  Shorty,  "  I'll  stand  in  with  him." 

"  Ah,  go  to  bed  with  your  gun-play ! "  retorted 
Scipio,  entirely  good-humored.  "  Is  the  Judge 
paying  for  a  carload  of  dead  punchers  to  gather 
his  beef  for  him  ?  And  this  ain't  a  proposition 
worth  a  man's  gettin'  hurt  for  himself,  anyway." 

"  That's  so,"  Shorty  assented. 

"  No,"  speculated  Scipio,  as  the  night  drew 
deeper  round  us  and  the  caboose  click-clucked 


i;o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  click-clucked  over  the  rail  joints ;  "  he's  waitin' 
for  somebody  else  to  open  this  pot.  I'll  bet  he 
don't  know  but  one  thing  now,  and  that's  that  no 
body  else  shall  know  he  don't  know  anything." 

Scipio  had  delivered  himself.  He  lighted  a 
cigarette,  and  no  more  wisdom  came  from  him. 
The  night  was  established.  The  rolling  bad-lands 
sank  away  in  it.  A  train-hand  had  arrived  over  the 
roof,  and  hanging  the  red  lights  out  behind,  left 
us  again  without  remark  or  symptom  of  curiosity. 
The  train-hands  seemed  interested  in  their  own 
society  and  lived  in  their  own  caboose.  A  chill 
wind  with  wet  in  it  came  blowing  from  the  invisible 
draws,  and  brought  the  feel  of  the  distant  moun 
tains. 

"  That's  Montana !  "  said  Scipio,  snuffing.  "  I 
am  glad  to  have  it  inside  my  lungs  again." 

"  Ain't  yu'  getting  cool  out  there  ?  "  said  thr 
Virginian's  voice.  "  Plenty  room  inside." 

Perhaps  he  had  expected  us  to  follow  him ;  or 
perhaps  he  had  meant  us  to  delay  long  enough 
,not  to  seem  like  a  reenforcement.  "  These  gentle 
men  missed  the  express  at  Medora,"  he  observed 
to  his  men,  simply. 

What  they  took  us  for  upon  our  entrance  I 
cannot  say,  or  what  they  believed.  The  atmos 
phere  of  the  caboose  was  charged  with  voiceless 
currents  of  thought.  By  way  of  a  friendly  begin 
ning  to  the  three  hundred  miles  of  caboose  we 
were  now  to  share  so  intimately,  I  recalled  myself 
to  them.  I  trusted  no  more  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  had  delayed  them.  "  I  am  so  lucky  to 
have  caught  you  again,"  I  finished.  "  I  was  afraid 
my  last  chance  of  reaching  the  Judge's  had  gone." 


THE   GAME   AND  THE   NATION  171 


. 

Thus  I  said  a  number  of  things  designed  to  be 
agreeable,  but  they  met  my  small  talk  with  the 
smallest  talk  you  can  have.  "  Yes,"  for  instance, 
and  "  Pretty  well,  I  guess,"  and  grave  strikings  of 
matches  and  thoughtful  looks  at  the  floor.  I  sup 
pose  we  had  made  twenty  miles  to  the  impertur 
bable  clicking  of  the  caboose  when  one  at  length 
asked  his  neighbor  had  he  ever  seen  New  York. 

"No,"  said  the  other.  "Flooded  with  dudes, 
ain't  it?" 

"  Swimmin',"  said  the  first. 

"  Leakin',  too,"  said  a  third. 

"  Well,  my  gracious !  "  said  a  fourth,  and  beat 
is  knee  in  private  delight.  None  of  them  ever 
looked  at  me.  For  some  reason  I  felt  exceedingly 
ill  at  ease. 

"  Good  clothes  in  New  York,"  said  the  third. 

"  Rich  food,"  said  the  first. 

"  Fresh  eggs,  too,"  said  the  third. 

"  Well,  my  gracious  !  "  said  the  fourth,  beating 
is  knee. 

"  Why,  yes,"  observed  the  Virginian,  unexpec 
tedly  ;  "  they  tell  me  that  aiggs  there  ain't  liable  to 
be  so  rotten  as  yu'll  strike  'em  in  this  country." 

None  of  them  had  a  reply  for  this,  and  New 
York  was  abandoned.  For  some  reason  I  felt 
much  better. 

It  was  a  new  line  they  adopted  next,  led  off  by 
Trampas. 

"  Going  to  the  excitement  ?  "  he  inquired,  select 
ing  Shorty. 

"  Excitement  ?  "  said  Shorty,  looking  up. 

"  Going  to  Rawhide  ?  "  Trampas  repeated.  And 
all  watched  Shorty. 


172  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Why,  I'm  all  adrift  missin'  that  express,"  said 
Shorty. 

"  Maybe  I  can  give  you  employment,"  suggested 
the  Virginian.  "  I  am  taking  an  outfit  across  the 
basin." 

"  You'll  find  most  folks  going  to  Rawhide,  if 
you're  looking  for  company,"  pursued  Trampas, 
fishing  for  a  recruit. 

"  How  about  Rawhide,  anyway  ?  "  said  Scipio, 
skilfully  deflecting  this  missionary  work.  "  Are 
they  taking  much  mineral  out?  Have  yu'  seen 
any  of  the  rock  ?  " 

"  Rock  ? "  broke  in  the  enthusiast  who  had 
beaten  his  knee..  "There!"  And  he  brought 
some  from  his  pocket 

"  You're  always  showing  your  rock,"  said  Tram- 
pas,  sulkily;  for  Scipio  now  held  the  conversa 
tion,  and  Shorty  returned  safely  to  his  dozing. 

"  H'm  !  "  went  Scipio  at  the  rock.  He  turned 
it  back  and  forth  in  his  hand,  looking  it  over ;  he 
chucked  and  caught  it  slightingly  in  the  air,  and 
handed  it  back.  "  Porphyry,  I  see."  That  was 
his  only  word  about  it.  He  said  it  cheerily.  He 
left  no  room  for  discussion.  You  could  not  damn 
a  thing  worse.  "  Ever  been  in  Santa  Rita  ?  "  pur 
sued  Scipio,  while  the  enthusiast  slowly  pushed 
his  rock  back  into  his  pocket.  "  That's  down  in 
New  Mexico.  Ever  been  to  Globe,  Arizona  ? " 
And  Scipio  talked  away  about  the  mines  he  had 
known.  There  was  no  getting  at  Shorty  any 
more  that  evening.  Trampas  was  foiled  of  his 
fish,  or  of  learning  how  the  fish's  heart  lay.  And 
by  morning  Shorty  had  been  carefully  instructed 
to  change  his  mind  about  once  an  hour.  This  is 


THE   GAME   AND   THE  NATION  173 

apt  to  discourage  all  but  very  superior  missiona 
ries.  And  I  too  escaped  for  the  rest  of  this  night. 
At  Glendive  we  had  a  dim  supper,  and  I  bought 
some  blankets ;  and  after  that  it  was  late,  and 
sleep  occupied  the  attention  of  us  all. 

We  lay  along  the  shelves  of  the  caboose,  a 
peaceful  sight  I  should  think,  in  that  smoothly 
trundling  cradle.  I  slept  almost  immediately,  so 
tired  that  not  even  our  stops  or  anything  else 
waked  me,  save  once,  when  the  air  I  was  breath 
ing  grew  suddenly  pure,  and  I  roused.  Sitting 
in  the  door  was  the  lonely  figure  of  the  Virginian. 
He  leaned  in  silent  contemplation  of  the  occa 
sional  moon,  and  beneath  it  the  Yellowstone's 
swift  ripples.  On  the  caboose  shelves  the  others 
slept  sound  and  still,  each  stretched  or  coiled  as 
he  had  first  put  himself.  They  were  not  untrust 
worthy  to  look  at,  it  seemed  to  me  —  except 
Trampas.  You  would  have  said  the  rest  of  that 
young  humanity  was  average  rough  male  blood, 
merely  needing  to  be  told  the  proper  things  at 
the  right  time ;  and  one  big  bunchy  stocking  of 
the  enthusiast  stuck  out  of  his  blanket,  solemn  and 
innocent,  and  I  laughed  at  it.  There  was  a  light 
sound  by  the  door,  and  I  found  the  Virginian's 
eye  on  me.  Finding  who  it  was,  he  nodded  and 
motioned  with  his  hand  to  go  to  sleep.  And  this 
I  did  with  him  in  my  sight,  still  leaning  in  the 
open  door,  through  which  came  the  interrupted 
moon  and  the  swimming  reaches  of  the  Yellow 
stone. 


XVI 

THE    GAME    AND    THE    NATION LAST    ACT 

IT  has  happened  to  you,  has  it  not,  to  wake  in 
the  morning  and  wonder  for  a  while  where  on 
earth  you  are?  Thus  I  came  half  to  life  in  the 
caboose,  hearing  voices,  but  not  the  actual  words 
at  first. 

But  presently, "  Hathaway !"  said  some  one  more 
clearly.  "  Portland  1291  !  " 

This  made  no  special  stir  in  my  intelligence, 
and  I  drowsed  off  again  to  the  pleasant  rhythm 
of  the  wheels.  The  little  shock  of  stopping  next 
brought  me  to,  somewhat,  with  the  voices  still 
round  me ;  and  when  we  were  again  in  motion,  I 
heard:  "Rosebud!  Portland  1279 !"  These  fig 
ures  jarred  me  awake,  and  I  said,  "It  was  1291 
before,"  and  sat  up  in  my  blankets. 

The  greeting  they  vouchsafed  and  the  sight 
of  them  clustering  expressionless  in  the  caboose 
brought  last  evening's  uncomfortable  memory  back 
to  me.  Our  next  stop  revealed  how  things  were 
going  to-day. 

"  Forsythe,"  one  of  them  read  on  the  station. 
"Portland  1266." 

They  were  counting  the  lessening  distance  west 
ward.  This  was  the  undercurrent  of  war.  It 
broke  on  me  as  I  procured  fresh  water  at  Forsythe 
and  made  some  toilet  in  their  stolid  presence.  We 

i74 


THE   GAME   AND   THE    NATION  175 


were  drawing  nearer  the  Rawhide  station  —  the 
point,  I  mean,  where  you  left  the  railway  for  the 
new  mines.  Now  Rawhide  station  lay  this  side 
of  Billings.  The  broad  path  of  desertion  would 
open  ready  for  their  feet  when  the  narrow  path  to 
duty  and  Sunk  Creek  was  still  some  fifty  miles 
more  to  wait.  Here  was  Trampas's  great  strength ; 
he  need  make  no  move  meanwhile,  but  lie  low  for 
the  immediate  temptation  to  front  and  waylay 
them  and  win  his  battle  over  the  deputy  foreman. 
But  the  Virginian  seemed  to  find  nothing  save 
enjoyment  in  this  sunny  September  morning,  and 
ate  his  breakfast  at  Forsythe  serenely. 

That  meal  done  and  that  station  gone,  our  ca 
boose  took  up  again  its  easy  trundle  by  the  banks 
of  the  Yellowstone.  The  mutineers  sat  for  a 
while  digesting  in  idleness. 

"  What's  your  scar  ? "  inquired  one  at  length, 
inspecting  casually  the  neck  of  his  neighbor. 

"  Foolishness,"  the  other  answered. 

"  Yourn  ? " 

"  Mine." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  but  I  prefer  to  have  my 
self  to  thank  for  a  thing,"  said  the  first. 

"  I  was  displaying  myself,"  continued  the  sec 
ond.  "  One  day  last  summer  it  was.  We  come 
on  a  big  snake  by  Torrey  Creek  corral.  The 
boys  got  betting  pretty  lively  that  I  dassent  make 
my  word  good  as  to  dealing  with  him,  so  I  loped 
my  cayuse  full  tilt  by  Mr.  Snake,  and  swung  down 
and  catched  him  up  by  the  tail  from  the  ground, 
and  cracked  him  same  as  a  whip,  and  snapped  his 
head  off.  You've  saw  it  done  ?  "  he  said  to  the 
audience. 


176  THE  VIRGINIAN 

The  audience  nodded  wearily. 

"  But  the  loose  head  flew  agin  me,  and  the  fangs 
caught.  I  was  pretty  sick  for  a  while." 

"  It  don't  pay  to  be  clumsy,"  said  the  first 
man.  "  If  you'd  snapped  the  snake  away  from  yu' 
instead  of  toward  yu',  its  head  would  have  whirled 
off  into  the  brush,  same  as  they  do  with  me." 

"  How  like  a  knife-cut  your  scar  looks  !  "  said  I. 

"  Don't  it  ?  "  said  the  snake-snapper.  "  There's 
many  that  gets  fooled  by  it." 

"  An  antelope  knows  a  snake  is  his  enemy," 
said  another  to  me.  "  Ever  seen  a  buck  circling 
round  and  round  a  rattler  ?  " 

"  I  have  always  wanted  to  see  that,"  said  I, 
heartily.  For  this  I  knew  to  be  a  respectable 
piece  of  truth. 

"  It's  worth  seeing,"  the  man  went  on.  "  After 
the  buck  gets  close  in,  he  gives  an  almighty  jump 
up  in  the  air,  and  down  comes  his  four  hoofs  in 
a  bunch  right  on  top  of  Mr.  Snake.  Cuts  him 
all  to  hash.  Now  you  tell  me  how  the  buck 
knows  that." 

Of  course  I  could  not  tell  him.  And  again  we 
sat  in  silence  for  a  while  —  friendlier  silence,  I 
thought. 

"  A  skunk'll  kill  yu'  worse  than  a  snake  bite," 
said  another,  presently.  "  No,  I  don't  mean  that 
way,"  he  added.  For  I  had  smiled.  "  There  is 
a  brown  skunk  down  in  Arkansaw.  Kind  of 
prairie-dog  brown.  Littler  than  our  variety,  he 
is.  And  he  is  mad  the  whole  year  round,  same 
as  a  dog  gets.  Only  the  dog  has  a  spell  and  dies ; 
but  this  here  Arkansaw  skunk  is  mad  right  along, 
and  it  don't  seem  to  interfere  with  his  business 


THE   GAME   AND  THE   NATION  177 

in  other  respects.  Well,  suppose  you're  camping 
out,  and  suppose  it's  a  hot  night,  or  you're  in  a 
hurry,  and  you've  made  camp  late,  or  anyway  you 
haven't  got  inside  any  tent,  but  you  have  just 
bedded  down  in  the  open.  Skunk  comes  travel 
ling  along  and  walks  on  your  blankets.  You're 
warm.  He  likes  that,  same  as  a  cat  does.  And 
he  tramps  with  pleasure  and  comfort,  same  as 
a  cat.  And  you  move.  You  get  bit,  that's  all. 
And  you  die  of  hydrophobia.  Ask  anybody." 

"Most  extraordinary!"  said  I.  "But  did  you 
ever  see  a  person  die  from  this  ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  Never  happened  to.  My  cousin  at 
Bald  Knob  did." 

"Died?" 

"  No,  sir.     Saw  a  man." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  they're  not  sick 
skunks  ? " 

"  No,  sir !  They're  well  skunks.  Well  as  any 
thing.  You'll  not  meet  skunks  in  any  state  of 
the  Union  more  robust  than  them  in  Arkansaw. 
And  thick." 

"  That's  awful  true,"  sighed  another.  "  I  have 
buried  hundreds  of  dollars'  worth  of  clothes  in 
Arkansaw." 

"  Why  didn't  yu'  travel  in  a  sponge  bag  ?  "  in 
quired  Scipio.  And  this  brought  a  slight  silence. 

"  Speakin'  of  bites,"  spoke  up  a  new  man, 
"how's  that?"  He  held  up  his  thumb. 

"  My !  "  breathed  Scipio.  "  Must  have  been  a 
lion." 

The  man  wore  a  wounded  look.  "  I  was  huntin' 
owl  eggs  for  a  botanist  from  Boston,"  he  explained 
to  me. 


178  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Chiropodist,  weren't  he  ?  "  said  Scipio.  "  Or 
maybe  a  sonnabulator  ?  " 

"  No,  honest,"  protested  the  man  with  the 
thumb ;  so  that  I  was  sorry  for  him,  and  begged 
him  to  go  on. 

"  I'll  listen  to  you,"  I  assured  him.  And  I 
wondered  why  this  politeness  of  mine  should 
throw  one  or  two  of  them  into  stifled  mirth. 
Scipio,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  me  a  disgusted 
look  and  sat  back  sullenly  for  a  moment,  and 
then  took  himself  out  on  the  platform,  where  the 
Virginian  was  lounging. 

"  The  young  feller  wore  knee-pants  and  ever 
so  thick  spectacles  with  a  half-moon  cut  in  'em," 
resumed  the  narrator,  "  and  he  carried  a  tin  box 
strung  to  a  strap  I  took  for  his  lunch  till  it  flew 
open  on  him  and  a  horn  toad  hustled  out.  Then 
I  was  sure  he  was  a  botanist  —  or  whatever  yu' 
say  they're  called.  Well,  he  would  have  owl 
eggs  —  them  little  prairie-owl  that  some  claim 
can  turn  their  head  clean  around  and  keep 
a-watchin'  yu',  only  that's  nonsense.  We  was 
ridin'  through  that  prairie-dog  town,  used  to  be 
on  the  flat  just  after  yu'  crossed  the  south  fork 
of  Powder  River  on  the  Buffalo  trail,  and  I  said 
I'd  dig  an  owl  nest  out  for  him  if  he  was  willin' 
to  camp  till  I'd  dug  it.  I  wanted  to  know  about 
them  owls  some  myself  —  if  they  did  live  with 
the  dogs  and  snakes,  yu'  know,"  he  broke  off, 
appealing  to  me. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  I  told  him  eagerly. 

"  So  while  the  botanist  went  glarin'  around  the 
town  with  his  glasses  to  see  if  he  could  spot  a 
prairie-dog  and  an  owl  usin'  the  same  hole,  I  was 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  179 

diggin'  in  a  hole  I'd  seen  an  owl  run  down.  And 
that's  what  I  got."  He  held  up  his  thumb 
again. 

"  The  snake  !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Yes,  sir.  Mr.  Rattler  was  keepin'  house  that 
day.  Took  me  right  there.  I  hauled  him  out 
of  the  hole  hangin'  to  me.  Eight  rattles." 

"  Eight !  "  said  I.     "  A  big  one." 

"Yes,  sir.  Thought  I  was  dead.  But  the 
woman  —  " 

"  The  woman  ?  "  said  I. 

"Yes,  woman.  Didn't  I  tell  yu'  the  botanist 
had  his  wife  along?  Well,  he  did.  And  she 
acted  better  than  the  man,  for  he  was  losin'  his 
head,  and  shoutin'  he  had  no  whiskey,  and  he 
didn't  guess  his  knife  was  sharp  enough  to  ampu 
tate  my  thumb,  and  none  of  us  chewed,  and  the 
doctor  was  twenty  miles  away,  and  if  he  had  only 
remembered  to  bring  his  ammonia  —  well,  he  was 
screeching  out  'most  everything  he  knew  in  the 
world,  and  without  arranging  it  any,  neither. 
But  she  just  clawed  his  pocket  and  burrowed  and 
kep'  yelling,  *  Give  him  the  stone,  Augustus ! ' 
And  she  whipped  out  one  of  them  Injun  medi 
cine-stones, —  first  one  I  ever  seen,  —  and  she 
clapped  it  on  to  my  thumb,  and  it  started  in  right 


awav." 


"What  did  it  do?"  said  I. 

"  Sucked.  Like  blotting-paper  does.  Soft  and 
funny  it  was,  and  gray.  They  get  'em  from  elks' 
stomachs,  yu'  know.  And  when  it  had  sucked 
the  poison  out  of  the  wound,  off  it  falls  of  my 
thumb  by  itself!  And  I  thanked  the  woman  for 
saving  my  life  that  capable  and  keeping  her  head 


i8o  THE  VIRGINIAN 

that  cool.  I  never  knowed  how  excited  she  had 
been  till  afterward.  She  was  awful  shocked." 

"  I  suppose  she  started  to  talk  when  the  danger 
was  over,"  said  I,  with  deep  silence  around  me. 

"  No ;  she  didn't  say  nothing  to  me.  But 
when  her  next  child  was  born,  it  had  eight 
rattles." 

Din  now  rose  wild  in  the  caboose.  They 
rocked  together.  The  enthusiast  beat  his  knee 
tumultuously.  And  I  joined  them.  Who  could 
help  it?  It  had  been  so  well  conducted  from 
the  imperceptible  beginning.  Fact  and  false 
hood  blended  with  such  perfect  art.  And  this 
last,  an  effect  so  new  made  with  such  world-old 
material !  I  cared  nothing  that  I  was  the  victim, 
and  I  joined  them  ;  but  ceased,  feeling  suddenly 
somehow  estranged  or  chilled.  It  was  in  their 
laughter.  The  loudness  was  too  loud.  And  I 
caught  the  eyes  of  Trampas  fixed  upon  the 
Virginian  with  exultant  malevolence.  Scipio's 
disgusted  glance  was  upon  me  from  the  door. 

Dazed  by  these  signs,  I  went  out  on  the  plat 
form  to  get  away  from  the  noise.  There  the 
Virginian  said  to  me :  "  Cheer  up !  You'll  not 
be  so  easy  for  'em  that-a-way  next  season." 

He  said  no  more ;  and  with  his  legs  dangled 
over  the  railing,  appeared  to  resume  his  news 
paper. 

"  What's  the  matter  ?  "  said  I  to  Scipio. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mind  if  he  don't,"  Scipio  answered. 
"  Couldn't  yu'  see  ?  I  tried  to  head  'em  off  from 
yu'  all  I  knew,  but  yu'  just  ran  in  among  'em 
yourself.  Couldn't  yu'  see  ?  Kep'  hinderin'  and 
spoilin'  me  with  askin'  those  urgent  questions  of 


THE   GAME   AND   THE    NATION  181 


yourn  —  why,  I  had  to  let  yu'  go  your  way! 
Why,  that  wasn't  the  ordinary  play  with  the 
ordinary  tenderfoot  they  treated  you  to !  You 
ain't  a  common  tenderfoot  this  trip.  You're  the 
foreman's  friend.  They've  hit  him  through  you. 
That's  the  way  they  count  it.  It's  made  them 
encouraged.  Can't  yu'  see?" 

Scipio  stated  it  plainly.  And  as  we  ran  by 
the  next  station,  "  Howard  !  "  they  harshly  yelled. 
"Portland  125-6!" 

We  had  been  passing  gangs  of  workmen  on 
the  track.  And  at  that  last  yell  the  Virginian 
rose.  "  I  reckon  I'll  join  the  meeting  again," 
he  said.  "  This  filling  and  repairing  looks  like 
the  washout  might  have  been  true." 

"  Washout  ?  "  said  Scipio. 

"  Big  Horn  bridge,  they  say  —  four  days  ago." 

"  Then  I  wish  it  came  this  side  Rawhide 
station." 

"Do  yu'?"  drawled  the  Virginian.  And  smil 
ing  at  Scipio,  he  lounged  in  through  the  open  door. 

"  He  beats  me,"  said  Scipio,  shaking  his  head. 
"  His  trail  is  turruble  hard  to  anticipate." 

We  listened. 

"Work  bein'  done  on  the  road,  I  see,"  the 
Virginian  was  saying,  very  friendly  and  con 
versational. 

"  We  see  it  too,"  said  the  voice  of  Trampas. 

"  Seem  to  be  easin'  their  grades  some." 

"  Roads  do." 

"  Cheaper  to  build  'em  the  way  they  want  'em 
at  the  start,  a  man  would  think,"  suggested  the 
Virginian,  most  friendly.  "  There  go  some  more 
I-talians." 


182  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  They're  Chinese,"  said  Trampas. 

"  That's  so,"  acknowledged  the  Virginian,  with 
a  laugh. 

"  What's  he  monkeyin'  at  now  ? "  muttered 
Scipio. 

"  Without  cheap  foreigners  they  couldn't 
afford  all  this  hyeh  new  gradin',"  the  Southerner 
continued. 

"  Grading !  Can't  you  tell  when  a  flood's  been 
eating  the  banks  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  the  Virginian,  sweet  as 
honey.  "  But  'ain't  yu'  heard  of  the  improve 
ments  west  of  Big  Timber,  all  the  way  to 
Missoula,  this  season  ?  I'm  talkin'  about  them." 

"  Oh  !     Talking  about  them.     Yes,  I've  heard." 

"  Good  money-savin'  scheme,  ain't  it  ? "  said 
the  Virginian.  "  Lettin'  a  freight  run  down  one 
hill  an'  up  the  next  as  far  as  she'll  go  without 
steam,  an'  shavin'  the  hill  down  to  that  point." 
Now  this  was  an  honest  engineering  fact.  "Bet- 
ter'n  settin'  dudes  squintin'  through  telescopes 
an'  cipherin'  over  one  per  cent  re-ductions,"  the 
Southerner  commented. 

"  It's  common  sense,"  assented  Trampas. 
"  Have  you  heard  the  new  scheme  about  the 
water-tanks  ? " 

"  I  ain't  right  certain,"  said  the  Southerner. 

"  I  must  watch  this,"  said  Scipio,  "  or  I  sha 
bust."     He  went  in,  and  so  did  I. 

They  were  all  sitting  over  this  discussion  of 
the  Northern  Pacific's  recent  policy  as  to  better 
ments,  as  though  they  were  the  board  of  directors. 
Pins  could  have  dropped.  Only  nobody  would 
have  cared  to  hear  a  pin. 


e 

• 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  183 

"  They  used  to  put  all  their  tanks  at  the  bottom 
of  their  grades,"  said  Trampas. 

"  Why,  yu'  get  the  water  easier  at  the  bottom." 

"  You  can  pump  it  to  the  top,  though,"  said 
Trampas,  growing  superior.  "  And  it's  cheaper." 

"  That  gets  me,"  said  the  Virginian,  interested. 

"  Trains  after  watering  can  start  down  hill  now 
and  get  the  benefit  of  the  gravity.  It'll  cut  down 
operating  expenses  a  heap." 

"  That's  cert'nly  common  sense  !  "  exclaimed  the 
Virginian,  absorbed.  "  But  ain't  it  kind  o'  tardy  ?  " 

"  Live  and  learn.  So  they  gained  speed,  too. 
High  speed  on  half  the  coal  this  season,  until  the 
accident." 

"  Accident !  "  said  the  Virginian,  instantly. 

"  Yellowstone  Limited.  Man  fired  at  engine- 
driver.  Train  was  flying  past  that  quick  the 
bullet  broke  every  window  and  killed  a  passenger 
on  the  back  platform.  You've  been  running  too 
much  with  aristocrats,"  finished  Trampas,  and 
turned  on  his  heel. 

"  Haw,  haw ! "  began  the  enthusiast,  but  his 
neighbor  gripped  him  to  silence.  This  was  a 
triumph  too  serious  for  noise.  Not  a  mutineer 
moved;  and  I  felt  cold. 

"  Trampas,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  I  thought 
yu'd  be  afeared  to  try  it  on  me." 

Trampas  whirled  round.  His  hand  was  at  his 
belt.  "  Afraid  !  "  he  sneered. 

"  Shorty ! "  said  Scipio,  sternly,  and  leaping 
upon  that  youth,  took  his  half-drawn  pistol  from 
him. 

"I'm  obliged  to  yu',"  said  the  Virginian  to 
Scipio. 


1 84  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Trampas's  hand  left  his  belt.  He  threw  a 
slight,  easy  look  at  his  men,  and  keeping  his  back 
to  the  Virginian,  walked  out  on  the  platform  and 
sat  on  the  chair  where  the  Virginian  had  sat  so 
much. 

"  Don't  you  comprehend,"  said  the  Virginian  to 
Shorty,  amiably,  "  that  this  hyeh  question  has 
been  discussed  peaceable  by  civilized  citizens  ? 
Now  you  sit  down  and  be  good,  and  Mr.  Le 
Moyne  will  return  your  gun  when  we're  across 
that  broken  bridge,  if  they  have  got  it  fixed  for 
heavy  trains  yet." 

"  This  train  will  be  lighter  when  it  gets  to  that 
bridge,"  spoke  Trampas,  out  on  his  chair. 

"  Why,  that's  true,  too ! "  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Maybe  none  of  us  are  crossin'  that  Big  Horn 
bridge  now,  except  me.  Funny  if  yu'  should  end 
by  persuadin'  me  to  quit  and  go  to  Rawhide 
myself!  But  I  reckon  I'll  not.  I  reckon  I'll 
worry  along  to  Sunk  Creek,  somehow." 

"  Don't  forget  I'm  cookin'  for  yu',"  said  Scipio, 
gruffly. 

"  I'm  obliged  to  yu',"  said  the  Southerner. 

"  You  were  speaking  of  a  job  for  me,"  said 
Shorty. 

"  I'm  right  obliged.  But  yu'  see  —  I  ain't 
exackly  foreman  the  way  this  comes  out,  and  my 
promises  might  not  bind  Judge  Henry  to  pay 
salaries." 

A  push  came  through  the  train  from  forward. 
We  were  slowing  for  the  Rawhide  station,  and  all 
began  to  be  busy  and  to  talk.  "  Going  up  to  the 
mines  to-day  ?  "  "  Oh,  let's  grub  first."  "  Guess 
it's  too  late,  anyway."  And  so  forth ;  while  they 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  185 

rolled  and  roped  their  bedding,  and  put  on  their 
coats  with  a  good  deal  of  elbow  motion,  and 
otherwise  showed  off.  It  was  wasted.  The  Vir 
ginian  did  not  know  what  was  going  on  in  the 
caboose.  He  was  leaning  and  looking  out  ahead, 
and  Scipio's  puzzled  eye  never  left  him.  And  as 
we  halted  for  the  water-tank,  the  Southerner  ex 
claimed,  "  They  'ain't  got  away  yet !  "  as  if  it  were 
good  news  to  him. 

He  meant  the  delayed  trains.  Four  stalled 
expresses  were  in  front  of  us,  besides  several 
freights.  And  two  hours  more  at  least  before 
the  bridge  would  be  ready. 

Travellers  stood  and  sat  about  forlorn,  near  the 
cars,  out  in  the  sage-brush,  anywhere.  People  in 
hats  and  spurs  watched  them,  and  Indian  chiefs 
offered  them  painted  bows  and  arrows  and  shiny 
horns. 

"  I  reckon  them  passengers  would  prefer  a  laig 
o'  mutton,"  said  the  Virginian  to  a  man  loafing 
near  the  caboose. 

"  Bet  your  life  !  "  said  the  man.  "  First  lot  has 
been  stuck  here  four  days." 

"  Plumb  starved,  ain't  they  ? "  inquired  the 
Virginian. 

"  Bet  your  life !  They've  eat  up  their  dining- 
cars  and  they've  eat  up  this  town." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Virginian,  looking  at  the  town, 
"  I  expaict  the  dining-cyars  contained  more  nour 
ishment." 

"  Say,  you're  about  right  there !  "  said  the  man. 
He  walked  beside  the  caboose  as  we  puffed  slowly 
forward  from  the  water- tank  to  our  siding.  u  Fine 
business  here  if  we'd  only  been  ready,"  he  con- 


i86  THE   VIRGINIAN 

tinued.  "  And  the  Crow  agent  has  let  his  Indians 
come  over  from  the  reservation.  There  has  been 
a  little  beef  brought  in,  and  game,  and  fish.  And 
big  money  in  it,  bet  your  life !  Them  Eastern 
passengers  has  just  been  robbed.  I  wisht  I  had 
somethin'  to  sell !  " 

"  Anything  starting  for  Rawhide  this  after 
noon  ? "  said  Trampas,  out  of  the  caboose  door. 

"  Not  until  morning,"  said  the  man.  "  You 
going  to  the  mines  ?  "  he  resumed  to  the  Virginian. 

"  Why,"  answered  the  Southerner,  slowly  and 
casually,  and  addressing  himself  strictly  to  the 
man,  while  Trampas,  on  his  side,  paid  obvious 
inattention,  "  this  hyeh  delay,  yu'  see,  may  unsettle 
our  plans  some.  But  it'll  be  one  of  two  ways,  — 
we're  all  goin'  to  Rawhide,  or  we're  all  goin'  to 
Billings.  We're  all  one  party,  yu'  see." 

Trampas  laughed  audibly  inside  the  door  as  he 
rejoined  his  men.  "  Let  him  keep  up  appearances," 
I  heard  him  tell  them.  "  It  don't  hurt  us  what  he 
says  to  strangers." 

"  But  I'm  goin'  to  eat  hearty  either  way,"  con 
tinued  the  Virginian.  "  And  I  ain'  goin'  to  be 
robbed.  I've  been  kind  o'  promisin'  myself  a  treat 
if  we  stopped  hyeh." 

u  Town's  eat  clean  out,"  said  the  man. 

"  So  yu'  tell  me.  But  all  you  folks  has  forgot 
one  source  of  revenue  that  yu'  have  right  close 
by,  mighty  handy.  If  you  have  got  a  gunny  sack, 
I'll  show  you  how  to  make  some  money." 

"  Bet  your  life !  "  said  the  man. 

"  Mr.  Le  Moyne,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  the  out 
fit's  cookin'  stuff  is  aboard,  and  if  you'll  get  the 
fire  ready,  we'll  try  how  frawgs'  laigs  go  fried." 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  187 

He  walked  off  at  once,  the  man  following  like  a 
dog.  Inside  the  caboose  rose  a  gust  of  laughter. 

"  Frogs !  "  muttered  Scipio.  And  then  turning 
a  blank  face  to  me,  "  Frogs  ?  " 

"  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones  had  them  on  his  bill  of 
fare,"  I  said.  "  '  Frogs  Legs  a  la  Delmonico!  " 

"  Shoo !  I  didn't  get  up  that  thing.  They  had 
it  when  I  came.  Never  looked  at  it.  Frogs  ? " 
He  went  down  the  steps  very  slowly,  with  a  long 
frown.  Reaching  the  ground,  he  shook  his  head. 
"  That  man's  trail  is  surely  hard  to  anticipate," 
he  said.  "  But  I  must  hurry  up  that  fire.  For 
his  appearance  has  given  me  encouragement," 
Scipio  concluded,  and  became  brisk.  Shorty 
helped  him,  and  I  brought  wood.  Trampas  and 
the  other  people  strolled  off  to  the  station,  a 
compact  band. 

Our  little  fire  was  built  beside  the  caboose,  so 
the  cooking  things  might  be  easily  reached  and 
put  back.  You  would  scarcely  think  such  opera 
tions  held  any  interest,  even  for  the  hungry,  when 
there  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  cook.  A  few  sticks 
blazing  tamely  in  the  dust,  a  frying-pan,  half  a  tin 
bucket  of  lard,  some  water,  and  barren  plates  and 
knives  and  forks,  and  three  silent  men  attending 
to  them  —  that  was  all.  But  the  travellers  came 
to  see.  These  waifs  drew  near  us,  and  stood,  a 
sad,  lorn,  shifting  fringe  of  audience ;  four  to 
begin  with ;  and  then  two  wandered  away ;  and 
presently  one  of  these  came  back,  finding  it  worse 
elsewhere.  "Supper,  boys?"  said  he.  "Break 
fast,"  said  Scipio,  crossly.  And  no  more  of  them 
addressed  us.  I  heard  them  joylessly  mention 
Wall  Street  to  each  other,  and  Saratoga ;  I  even 


1 88  THE   VIRGINIAN 

heard  the  name  Bryn  Mawr,  which  is  near  Phila 
delphia.  But  these  fragments  of  home  dropped 
in  the  wilderness  here  in  Montana  beside  a  freight 
caboose  were  of  no  interest  to  me  now. 

"  Looks  like  frogs  down  there,  too,"  said  Scipio. 
"  See  them  marshy  sloos  full  of  weeds  ? "  We 
took  a  little  turn  and  had  a  sight  of  the  Virginian 
quite  active  among  the  ponds.  "  Hush !  I'm  get 
ting  some  thoughts,"  continued  Scipio.  "  He 
wasn't  sorry  enough.  Don't  interrupt  me." 

"  I'm  not,"  said  I. 

"No.  But  I'd  'most  caught  a-hold."  And 
Scipio  muttered  to  himself  again,  "  He  wasn't 
sorry  enough."  Presently  he  swore  loud  and 
brilliantly.  "  Tell  yu' !  "  he  cried.  "  What  did  he 
say  to  Trampas  after  that  play  they  exchanged 
over  railroad  improvements  and  Trampas  put  the 
josh  on  him  ?  Didn't  he  say, '  Trampas,  I  thought 
you'd  be  afraid  to  do  it  ? '  Well,  sir,  Trampas 
had  better  have  been  afraid.  And  that's  what  he 
meant.  There's  where  he  was  bringin'  it  to. 
Trampas  made  an  awful  bad  play  then.  You 
wait.  Glory,  but  he's  a  knowin'  man  !  Course 
he  wasn't  sorry.  I  guess  he  had  the  hardest  kind 
of  work  to  look  as  sorry  as  he  did.  You  wait." 

"  Wait  ?    What  for  ?    Go  on,  man  !    What  for  ?  " 

"I  don't  know!  I  don't  know!  Whatever 
hand  he's  been  holdin'  up,  this  is  the  show-down. 
He's  played  for  a  show-down  here  before  the 
caboose  gets  off  the  bridge.  Come  back  to  the 
fire,  or  Shorty '11  be  leavin'  it  go  out.  Grow 
happy  some,  Shorty ! "  he  cried  on  arriving,  and 
his  hand  cracked  on  Shorty's  shoulder.  "  Sup 
per's  in  sight,  Shorty.  Food  for  reflection." 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  189 

"  None  for  the  stomach  ?  "  asked  the  passenger 
who  had  spoken  once  before. 

"  We're  figuring  on  that  too,"  said  Scipio.  His 
crossness  had  melted  entirely  away. 

"  Why,  they're  cow-boys  !  "  exclaimed  another 
passenger;  and  he  moved  nearer. 

From  the  station  Trampas  now  came  back,  his 
herd  following  him  less  compactly.  They  had 
found  famine,  and  no  hope  of  supplies  until  the 
next  train  from  the  East.  This  was  no  fault  of 
Trampas's ;  but  they  were  following  him  less 
compactly.  They  carried  one  piece  of  cheese, 
the  size  of  a  fist,  the  weight  of  a  brick,  the  hue 
of  a  corpse.  And  the  passengers,  seeing  it, 
exclaimed,  "  There's  Old  Faithful  again ! "  and 
took  off  their  hats. 

"  You  gentlemen  met  that  cheese  before,  then  ?  " 
said  Scipio,  delighted. 

"  It's  been  offered  me  three  times  a  day  for  four 
days,"  said  the  passenger.  "  Did  he  want  a  dollar 
or  a  dollar  and  a  half  ?  " 

"  Two  dollars !  "  blurted  out  the  enthusiast. 
And  all  of  us  save  Trampas  fell  into  fits  of 
imbecile  laughter. 

"  Here  comes  our  grub,  anyway,"  said  Scipio, 
looking  off  toward  the  marshes.  And  his  hilarity 
sobered  away  in  a  moment. 

"  Well,  the  train  will  be  in  soon,"  stated 
Trampas.  "  I  guess  we'll  get  a  decent  supper 
without  frogs." 

All  interest  settled  now  upon  the  Virginian.  He 
was  coming  with  his  man  and  his  gunny  sack,  and 
the  gunny  sack  hung  from  his  shoulder  heavily, 
as  a  full  sack  should.  He  took  no  notice  of  the 


i9o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

gathering,  but  sat  down  and  partly  emptied  the 
sack.  "  There,"  said  he,  very  businesslike,  to  his 
assistant,  "  that's  all  we'll  want.  I  think  you'll 
find  a  ready  market  for  the  balance." 

"  Well,  my  gracious !  "  said  the  enthusiast. 
"What  fool  eats  a  frog?" 

"  Oh,  I'm  fool  enough  for  a  tadpole !  "  cried  the 
passenger.  And  they  began  to  take  out  their 
pocket-books. 

"  You  can  cook  yours  right  hyeh,  gentlemen," 
said  the  Virginian,  with  his  slow  Southern  cour 
tesy.  "  The  dining-cyars  don't  look  like  they  were 
fired  up." 

"How  much  will  you  sell  a  couple  for?"  in 
quired  the  enthusiast. 

The  Virginian  looked  at  him  with  friendly  sur 
prise.  "  Why,  help  yourself !  We're  all  together 
yet  awhile.  Help  yourselves,"  he  repeated,  to 
Trampas  and  his  followers.  These  hung  back 
a  moment,  then,  with  a  slinking  motion,  set  the 
cheese  upon  the  earth  and  came  forward  nearer 
the  fire  to  receive  some  supper. 

"  It  won't  scarcely  be  Delmonico  style,"  said 
the  Virginian  to  the  passengers,  "  nor  yet  Saynt 
Augustine."  He  meant  the  great  Augustin,  the 
traditional  chef  of  Philadelphia,  whose  history  I 
had  sketched  for  him  at  Colonel  Cyrus  Jones's 
eating  palace. 

Scipio  now  officiated.  His  frying-pan  was  busy, 
and  prosperous  odors  rose  from  it. 

"  Run  for  a  bucket  of  fresh  water,  Shorty,"  the 
Virginian  continued,  beginning  his  meal.  "  Colo 
nel,  yu'  cook  pretty  near  good.  If  yu'  had  sold'  em 
as  advertised,  yu'd  have  cert'nly  made  a  name." 


THE    GAME   AND   THE    NATION  191 

Several  were  now  eating  with  satisfaction,  but 
not  Scipio.  It  was  all  that  he  could  do  to  cook 
straight.  The  whole  man  seemed  to  glisten.  His 
eye  was  shut  to  a  slit  once  more,  while  the  inno 
cent  passengers  thankfully  swallowed. 

"  Now,  you  see,  you  have  made  some  money," 
began  the  Virginian  to  the  native  who  had  helped 
him  get  the  frogs. 

"  Bet  your  life  !  "  exclaimed  the  man.  "  Divvy, 
won't  you  ?  "  And  he  held  out  half  his  gains. 

"  Keep  'em,"  returned  the  Southerner.  "  I 
reckon  we're  square.  But  I  expaict  they'll  not 
equal  Delmonico's,  seh  ?  "  he  said  to  a  passenger. 

"  Don't  trust  the  judgment  of  a  man  as  hungry 
as  I  am !  "  exclaimed  the  traveller,  with  a  laugh. 
And  he  turned  to  his  fellow-travellers.  "  Did 
you  ever  enjoy  supper  at  Delmonico's  more  than 
this  ?  " 

"  Never  !  "  they  sighed. 

"  Why,  look  here,"  said  the  traveller,  "  what 
fools  the  people  of  this  town  are !  Here  we've 
been  all  these  starving  days,  and  you  come  and 
get  ahead  of  them !  " 

"  That's  right  easy  explained,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian.  "  I've  been  where  there  was  big  money 
in  frawgs,  and  they  'ain't  been.  They're  all  cattle 
hyeh.  Talk  cattle,  think  cattle,  and  they're  bank 
rupt  in  consequence.  Fallen  through.  Ain't  that 
so  ? "  he  inquired  of  the  native. 

"  That's  about  the  way,"  said  the  man. 

"  It's  mighty  hard  to  do  what  your  neighbors 
ain't  doin',"  pursued  the  Virginian.  "  Montana 
is  all  cattle,  an'  these  folks  must  be  cattle,  an' 
never  notice  the  country  right  hyeh  is  too  small 


i92  THE   VIRGINIAN 

for  a  range,  an'  swampy,  anyway,  an'  just  waitin' 
to  be  a  frawg  ranch." 

At  this,  all  wore  a  face  of  careful  reserve. 

"  I'm  not  claimin'  to  be  smarter  than  you  folks 
hyeh,"  said  the  Virginian,  deprecatingly,  to  his 
assistant.  "  But  travellin'  learns  a  man  many 
customs.  You  wouldn't  do  the  business  they 
done  at  Tulare,  California,  north  sicle-o'  the  lake. 
They  cert'nly  utilized  them  hopeless  swamps 
splendid.  Of  course  they  put  up  big  capital  and 
went  into  it  scientific,  gettin'  advice  from  the  gov 
ernment  Fish  Commission,  an'  such  like  knowl 
edge.  Yu'  see,  they  had  big  markets  for  their 
frawgs,  —  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  and  clear 
to  New  York  afteh  the  Southern  Pacific  was 
through.  But  up  hyeh  yu'  could  sell  to  passen 
gers  every  day  like  yu'  done  this  one  day.  They 
would  get  to  know  yu'  along  the  line.  Com 
peting  swamps  are  scarce.  The  dining-cyars 
would  take  your  frawgs,  and  yu'  would  have  the 
Yellowstone  Park  for  four  months  in  the  year. 
Them  hotels  are  anxious  to  please,  an'  they  would 
buy  off  yu'  what  their  Eastern  patrons  esteem  as 
fine-eatin'.  And  you  folks  would  be  sellin'  some 
thing  instead  o'  nothin'." 

"  That's  a  practical  idea,"  said  a  traveller.  "  And 
little  cost." 

"  And  little  cost,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  Would  Eastern  people  eat  frogs  ?  "  inquired 
the  man. 

"  Look  at  us  !  "  said  the  traveller. 

"  Delmonico  doesn't  give  yu'  such  a  treat !  "  said 
the  Virginian. 

"  Not  exactly !  "  the  traveller  exclaimed. 


THE    GAME   AND   THE    NATION  193 

"  How  much  would  be  paid  for  frogs  ?  "  said 
Trampas  to  him.  And  I  saw  Scipio  bend  closer 
to  his  cooking. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  the  traveller.  "  We've 
paid  pretty  well,  you  see." 

"You're  late  for  Tulare,  Trampas,"  said  the 
Virginian. 

"  I  was  not  thinking  of  Tulare,"  Trampas  re 
torted.  Scipio's  nose  was  in  the  frying-pan. 

"  Mos'  comical  spot  you  ever  struck !  "  said  the 
Virginian,  looking  round  upon  the  whole  com 
pany.  He  allowed  himself  a  broad  smile  of  retro- 
pect.  . "  To  hear  'em  talk  f rawgs  at  Tulare  !  Same 
as  other  folks  talks  hawsses  or  steers  or  whatever 
they're  raising  to  sell.  Yu'd  fall  into  it  yourselves 
if  yu'  started  the  business.  Anything  a  man's 
bread  and  butter  depends  on,  he's  going  to  be 
earnest  about.  Don't  care  if  it  is  a  frawg." 

"That's  so,"  said  the  native.  "And  it  paid 
good  ?  " 

"  The  only  money  in  the  county  was  right 
there,"  answered  the  Virginian.  "  It  was  a  dead 
county,  and  only  frawgs  was  movin'.  But  that 
business  was  a-fannin'  to  beat  four  of  a  kind.  It 
made  yu'  feel  strange  at  first,  as  I  said.  For  all 
the  men  had  been  cattle-men  at  one  time  or  an 
other.  Till  yu'  got  accustomed,  it  would  give 
'most  anybody  a  shock  to  hear  'em  speak  about 
herdin'  the  bulls  in  a  pasture  by  themselves." 
The  Virginian  allowed  himself  another  smile,  but 
became  serious  again.  "  That  was  their  policy," 
he  explained.  "  Except  at  certain  times  o'  year 
they  kept  the  bulls  separate.  The  Fish  Commis 
sion  told  'em  they'd  better,  and  it  cert'nly  worked 


i94  THE   VIRGINIAN 

mighty  well.  It  or  something  did  —  for,  gentle 
men,  hush !  but  there  was  millions.  You'd  have 
said  all  the  frawgs  in  the  world  had  taken  charge 
at  Tulare.  And  the  money  rolled  in !  Gentle 
men,  hush !  'twas  a  gold  mine  for  the  owners. 
Forty  per  cent  they  netted  some  years.  And  they 
paid  generous  wages.  For  they  could  sell  to  all 
them  French  restaurants  in  San  Francisco,  yu' 
see.  And  there  was  the  Cliff  House.  And  the 
Palace  Hotel  made  it  a  specialty.  And  the  offi 
cers  took  frawgs  at  the  Presidio,  an'  Angel  Island, 
an'  Alcatraz,  an'  Benicia.  Los  Angeles  was  be- 
ginnin'  its  boom.  The  corner-lot  sharps  wanted 
something  by  way  of  varnish.  An'  so  they  dazzled 
Eastern  investors  with  advertisin'  Tulare  frawgs 
clear  to  N'  Yol'ans  an'  New  York.  'Twas  only  in 
Sacramento  frawgs  was  dull.  I  expaict  the  Cali 
fornia  legislature  was  too  or'n'ry  for  them  fine- 
raised  luxuries.  They  tell  of  one  of  them  senators 
that  he  raked  a  million  out  of  Los  Angeles  real 
estate,  and  started  in  for  a  bang-up  meal  with 
champagne.  Wanted  to  scatter  his  new  gold 
thick  an'  quick.  But  he  got  astray  among  all  the 
fancy  dishes,  an'  just  yelled  right  out  before  the 
ladies,  'Damn  it!  bring  me  forty  dollars'  worth 
of  ham  and  aiggs.'  He  was  a  funny  senator, 


now." 


The  Virginian  paused,  and  finished  eating  a 
leg.  And  then  with  diabolic  art  he  made  a  feint  at 
wandering  to  new  fields  of  anecdote.  "  Talkin'  of 
senators,"  he  resumed,  "  Senator  Wise  —  " 

"  How  much  did  you  say  wages  were  at  Tulare  ? " 
inquired  one  of  the  Trampas  faction. 

"  How  much  ?     Why,  I  never  knew  what  the 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  195 

foreman  got.  The  regular  hands  got  a  hundred. 
Senator  Wise  —  " 

"A  hundred  a  month?" 

"  Why,  it  was  wet  an'  muddy  work,  yu'  see.  A 
man  risked  rheumatism  some.  He  risked  it  a 
good  deal.  Well,  I  was  going  to  tell  about  Sen 
ator  Wise.  When  Senator  Wise  was  speaking 
of  his  visit  to  Alaska  —  " 

"  Forty  per  cent,  was  it  ?  "  said  Trampas. 

"  Oh,  I  must  call  my  wife ! "  said  the  traveller 
behind  me.  "  This  is  what  I  came  West  for." 
And  he  hurried  away. 

"  Not  forty  per  cent  the  bad  years,"  replied  the 
Virginian.  "  The  frawgs  had  enemies,  same  as 
cattle.  I  remember  when  a  pelican  got  in  the 
spring  pasture,  and  the  herd  broke  through  the 
fence  —  " 

"  Fence  ?  "  said  a  passenger. 

"  Ditch,  seh,  and  wire  net.  Every  pasture  was 
a  square  swamp  with  a  ditch  around,  and  a  wire 
net.  Yu've  heard  the  mournful,  mixed-up  sound 
a  big  bunch  of  cattle  will  make  ?  Well,  seh,  as  yu' 
druv  from  the  railroad  to  the  Tulare  frawg  ranch 
yu'  could  hear  'em  a  mile.  Springtime  they'd 
sing  like  girls  in  the  organ  loft,  and  by  August 
they  were  about  ready  to  hire  out  for  bass.  And 
all  was  fit  to  be  soloists,  if  I'm  a  judge.  But  in  a 
bad  year  it  might  only  be  twenty  per  cent.  The 
pelican  rushed  'em  from  the  pasture  right  into  the 
San  Joaquin  River,  which  was  close  by  the  prop 
erty.  The  big  balance  of  the  herd  stampeded, 
and  though  of  course  they  came  out  on  the  banks 
again,  the  news  had  went  around,  and  folks  below  at 
Hemlen  eat  most  of  'em  just  to  spite  the  company. 


196  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Yu'  see,  a  frawg  in  a  river  is  more  hopeless  than 
any  maverick  loose  on  the  range.  And  they 
never  struck  any  plan  to  brand  their  stock  and 
prove  ownership." 

"  Well,  twenty  per  cent  is  good  enough  for 
me,"  said  Trampas,  "  if  Rawhide  don't  suit  me." 

"  A  hundred  a  month ! "  said  the  enthusiast. 
And  busy  calculations  began  to  arise  among 
them. 

"It  went  to  fifty  per  cent,"  pursued  the  Virgin 
ian,  "  when  New  York  and  Philadelphia  got  to 
biddin'  agaynst  each  other.  Both  cities  had  signs 
all  over  'em  claiming  to  furnish  the  Tulare  frawg. 
And  both  had  'em  all  right.  And  same  as  cattle 
trains,  yu'd  see  frawg  trains  tearing  acrosst  Ari 
zona —  big  glass  tanks  with  wire  over  'em  — 
through  to  New  York,  an'  the  frawgs  starin'  out." 

"  Why,  George,"  whispered  a  woman's  voice 
behind  me,  "  he's  merely  deceiving  them  !  He's 
merely  making  that  stuff  up  out  of  his  head." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  that's  merely  what  he's  doing." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  why  you  imagined  I  should 
care  for  this.  I  think  I'll  go  back." 

"  Better  see  it  out,  Daisy.  This  beats  the 
geysers  or  anything  we're  likely  to  find  in  the 
Yellowstone." 

"  Then  I  wish  we  had  gone  to  Bar  Harbor  as 
usual,"  said  the  lady,  and  she  returned  to  her 
Pullman. 

But  her  husband  stayed.  Indeed,  the  male  crowd 
now  was  a  goodly  sight  to  see,  how  the  men  edged 
close,  drawn  by  a  common  tie.  Their  different 
kinds  of  feet  told  the  strength  of  the  bond  —  yel 
low  sleeping-car  slippers  planted  miscellaneous 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  197 

and  motionless  near  a  pair  of  Mexican  spurs.  All 
eyes  watched  the  Virginian  and  gave  him  their 
entire  sympathy.  Though  they  could  not  know 
his  motive  for  it,  what  he  was  doing  had  fallen  as 
light  upon  them  —  all  except  the  excited  calcu 
lators.  These  were  loudly  making  their  fortunes 
at  both  Rawhide  and  Tulare,  drugged  by  their 
satanically  aroused  hopes  of  gold,  heedless  of  the 
slippers  and  the  spurs.  Had  a  man  given  any 
sign  to  warn  them,  I  think  he  would  have  been 
lynched.  Even  the  Indian  chiefs  had  come  to  see 
in  their  show  war  bonnets  and  blankets.  They 
naturally  understood  nothing  of  it,  yet  magneti 
cally  knew  that  the  Virginian  was  the  great  man. 
And  they  watched  him  with  approval.  He  sat 
by  the  fire  with  the  frying-pan,  looking  his  daily 
self  —  engaging  and  saturnine.  And  now  as 
Trampas  declared  tickets  to  California  would  be 
dear  and  Rawhide  had  better  come  first,  the 
Southerner  let  loose  his  heaven-born  imagination. 

"  There's  a  better  reason  for  Rawhide  than 
tickets,  Trampas,"  said  he.  "  I  said  it  was  too 
late  for  Tulare." 

"  I  heard  you,"  said  Trampas.  "  Opinions  may 
differ.  You  and  I  don't  think  alike  on  several 
points." 

"  Gawd,  Trampas  !  "  said  the  Virginian,  "  d'  yu' 
reckon  I'd  be  rotting  hyeh  on  forty  dollars  if 
Tulare  was  like  it  used  to  be  ?  Tulare  is  broke." 

"  What  broke  it  ?     Your  leaving  ?  " 

"  Revenge  broke  it,  and  disease,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian,  striking  the  frying-pan  on  his  knee,  for  the 
frogs  were  all  gone.  At  those  lurid  words  their 
untamed  child  minds  took  fire,  and  they  drew 


198  THE   VIRGINIAN 

round  him  again  to  hear  a  tale  of  blood.  The 
crowd  seemed  to  lean  nearer. 

But  for  a  short  moment  it  threatened  to  be 
spoiled.  A  passenger  came  along,  demanding  in 
an  important  voice,  "  Where  are  these  frogs  ? " 
He  was  a  prominent  New  York  after-dinner 
speaker,  they  whispered  me,  and  out  for  a  holiday 
in  his  private  car.  Reaching  us  and  walking  to 
the  Virginian,  he  said  cheerily,  "  How  much  do 
you  want  for  your  frogs,  my  friend  ?  " 

"  You  got  a  friend  hyeh  ?  "  said  the  Virginian. 
"  That's  good,  for  yu'  need  care  taken  of  yu'." 
And  the  prominent  after-dinner  speaker  did  not 
further  discommode  us. 

"  That's  worth  my  trip,"  whispered  a  New  York 
passenger  to  me. 

"Yes,  it  was  a  case  of  revenge,"  resumed  the 
Virginian,  "and  disease.  There  was  a  man 
named  Saynt  Augustine  got  run  out  of  Domingo, 
which  is  a  Dago  island.  He  come  to  Phila 
delphia,  an'  he  was  dead  broke.  But  Saynt 
Augustine  was  a  live  man,  an'  he  saw  Phila 
delphia  was  full  o'  Quakers  that  dressed  plain  an' 
eat  humdrum.  So  he  started  cookin'  Domingo 
way  for  'em,  an'  they  caught  right  ahold.  Terra 
pin,  he  gave  'em,  an'  croakeets,  an'  he'd  use  forty 
chickens  to  make  a  broth  he  called  consommay. 
An'  he  got  rich,  and  Philadelphia  got  well  known, 
an'  Delmonico  in  New  York  he  got  jealous.  He 
was  the  cook  that  had  the  say-so  in  New  York." 

"  Was  Delmonico  one  of  them  I-talians  ? "  in 
quired  a  fascinated  mutineer. 

"  I  don't  know.  But  he  acted  like  one.  Lo 
renzo  was  his  front  name.  He  aimed  to  cut  —  " 


THE   GAME   AND   THE   NATION  199 

"  Domingo's  throat  ?  "  breathed  the  enthusiast. 

"  Aimed  to  cut  away  the  trade  from  Saynt 
Augustine  an'  put  Philadelphia  back  where  he 
thought  she  belonged.  Frawgs  was  the  fashion 
able  rage  then.  These  foreign  cooks  set  the 
fashion  in  eatin',  same  as  foreign  dressmakers  do 
women's  clothes.  Both  cities  was  catchin'  and 
swallowin'  all  the  frawgs  Tulare  could  throw  at 
'em.  So  he  —  " 

"  Lorenzo  ?  "  said  the  enthusiast. 

"  Yes,  Lorenzo  Delmonico.  He  bid  a  dollar 
a  tank  higher.  An'  Saynt  Augustine  raised  him 
fifty  cents.  An'  Lorenzo  raised  him  a  dollar. 
An'  Saynt  Augustine  shoved  her  up  three. 
Lorenzo  he  didn't  expect  Philadelphia  would  go 
that  high,  and  he  got  hot  in  the  collar,  an'  flew 
round  his  kitchen  in  New  York,  an'  claimed  he'd 
twist  Saynt  Augustine's  Domingo  tail  for  him 
and  crack  his  ossified  system.  Lorenzo  raised 
his  language  to  a  high  temperature,  they  say. 
An'  then  quite  sudden  off  he  starts  for  Tulare. 
He  buys  tickets  over  the  Santa  Fe,  and  he  goes 
a-fannin'  and  a-foggin'.  But,  gentlemen,  hush ! 
The  very  same  day  Saynt  Augustine  he  tears 
out  of  Philadelphia.  He  travelled  by  the  way 
o'  Washington,  an'  out  he  comes  a-fannin'  an' 
a-foggin'  over  the  Southern  Pacific.  Of  course 
Tulare  didn't  know  nothin'  of  this.  All  it  knowed 
was  how  the  frawg  market  was  on  soarin'  wings, 
and  it  was  feelin'  like  a  flight  o'  rawckets.  If 
only  there 'd  been  some  preparation,  —  a  telegram 
or  something,  —  the  disaster  would  never  have 
occurred.  But  Lorenzo  and  Saynt  Augustine 
was  that  absorbed  watchin'  each  other  —  for,  yu' 


200  THE   VIRGINIAN 

see,  the  Santa  Fe  and  the  Southern  Pacific  come 
together  at  Mojave,  an'  the  two  cooks  travelled  a 
matter  of  two  hundred  an'  ten  miles  in  the  same 
cyar  —  they  never  thought  about  a  telegram. 
And  when  they  arruv,  breathless,  an'  started  in 
to  screechin'  what  they'd  give  for  the  monopoly, 
why,  them  unsuspectin'-  Tulare  boys  got  amused 
at  'em.  I  never  heard  just  all  they  done,  but  they 
had  Lorenzo  singin'  and  dancin',  while  Saynt 
Augustine  played  the  fiddle  for  him.  And  one 
of  Lorenzo's  heels  did  get  a  trifle  grazed.  Well, 
them  two  cooks  quit  that  ranch  without  disclosin' 
their  identity,  and  soon  as  they  got  to  a  safe 
distance  they  swore  eternal  friendship,  in  their 
excitable  foreign  way.  And  they  went  home 
over  the  Union  Pacific,  sharing  the  same  state 
room.  Their  revenge  killed  frawgs.  The  disease — " 

"  How  killed  frogs  ?  "  demanded  Trampas. 

"  Just  killed  'em.  Delmonico  and  Saynt  Augus 
tine  wiped  frawgs  off  the  slate  of  fashion.  Not  a 
banker  in  Fifth  Avenue'll  touch  one  now  if  an 
other  banker's  around  watchin'  him.  And  if  ever 
yu'  see  a  man  that  hides  his  feet  an'  won't  take 
off  his  socks  in  company,  he  has  worked  in  them 
Tulare  swamps  an'  got  the  disease.  Catch  him 
wadin',  and  yu'll  find  he's  web-footed.  Frawgs 
are  dead,  Trampas,  and  so  are  you." 

"  Rise  up,  liars,  and  salute  your  king ! "  yelled 
Scipio.  "  Oh,  I'm  in  love  with  you !  "  And  he 
threw  his  arms  round  the  Virginian. 

"  Let  me  shake  hands  with  you,"  said  the  trav 
eller,  who 'had  failed  to  interest  his  wife  in  these 
things.  "  I  wish  I  was  going  to  have  more  of 
your  company." 


THE    GAME   AND   THE   NATION  201 

"  Thank  yu',  seh,"  said  the  Virginian. 

Other  passengers  greeted  him,  and  the  Indian 
chiefs  came,  saying,  "  How ! "  because  they  fol 
lowed  their  feelings  without  understanding. 

"  Don't  show  so  humbled,  boys,"  said  the  deputy 
foreman  to  his  most  sheepish  crew.  "  These  gen 
tlemen  from  the  East  have  been  enjoying  yu' 
some,  I  know.  But  think  what  a  weary  wait  they 
have  had  hyeh.  And  you  insisted  on  playing  the 
game  with  me  this  way,  yu'  see.  What  outlet  did 
yu'  give  me  ?  Didn't  I  have  it  to  do  ?  And  I'll 
tell  yu'  one  thing  for  your  consolation :  when  I 
got  to  the  middle  of  the  frawgs  I  'most  believed 
it  myself."  And  he  laughed  out  the  first  laugh  I 
had  heard  him  give. 

The  enthusiast  came  up  and  shook  hands. 
That  led  off,  and  the  rest  followed,  with  Trampas 
at  the  end.  The  tide  was  too  strong  for  him. 
He  was  not  a  graceful  loser;  but  he  got  through 
this,  and  the  Virginian  eased  him  down  by  treat 
ing  him  precisely  like  the  others  —  apparently. 
Possibly  the  supreme  —  the  most  American  — 
moment  of  all  was  when  word  came  that  the 
bridge  was  open,  and  the  Pullman  trains,  with 
noise  and  triumph,  began  to  move  westward  at 
last  Every  one  waved  farewell  to  every  one, 
craning  from  steps  and  windows,  so  that  the  cars 
twinkled  with  hilarity ;  and  in  twenty  minutes  the 
whole  procession  in  front  had  moved,  and  our  turn 
came. 

"  Last  chance  for  Rawhide,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  Last  chance  for  Sunk  Creek,"  said  a  recon 
structed  mutineer,  and  all  sprang  aboard.  There 
was  no  question  who  had  won  his  spurs  now. 


202  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Our  caboose  trundled  on  to  Billings  along  the 
shingly  cottonwooded  Yellowstone ;  and  as  the 
plains  and  bluffs  and  the  distant  snow  began  to 
grow  well  known,  even  to  me,  we  turned  to  our 
baggage  that  was  to  come  off,  since  camp  would 
begin  in  the  morning.  Thus  I  saw  the  Virginian 
carefully  rewrapping  Kenilworth,  that  he  might 
bring  it  to  its  owner  unharmed ;  and  I  said, 
"  Don't  you  think  you  could  have  played  poker 
with  Queen  Elizabeth  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I  expaict  she'd  have  beat  me,"  he  replied. 
"  She  was  a  lady." 

It  was  at  Billings,  on  this  day,  that  I  made  those 
reflections  about  equality.  For  the  Virginian  had 
been  equal  to  the  occasion :  that  is  the  only  kind 
of  equality  which  I  recognize. 


XVII 

SCIPIO    MORALIZES 

INTO  what  mood  was  it  that  the  Virginian  now 
fell?  Being  less  busy,  did  he  begin  to  "grieve" 
about  the  girl  on  Bear  Creek  ?  I  only  know  that 
after  talking  so  lengthily  he  fell  into  a  nine  days' 
silence.  The  talking  part  of  him  deeply  and  un- 
brokenly  slept. 

Official  words  of  course  came  from  him  as  we 
rode  southward  from  the  railroad,  gathering  the 
Judge's  stray  cattle.  During  the  many  weeks 
since  the  spring  round-up,  some  of  these  animals 
had  as  usual  got  very  far  off  their  range,  and  get 
ting  them  on  again  became  the  present  business  of 
our  party. 

Directions  and  commands  —  whatever  commu 
nications  to  his  subordinates  were  needful  to  the 
forwarding  of  this  —  he  duly  gave.  But  routine 
has  never  at  any  time  of  the  world  passed  for 
conversation.  His  utterances,  such  as,  "We'll 
work  Willo'  Creek  to-morro'  mawnin',"  or,  "  I 
want  the  wagon  to  be  at  the  fawks  o'  Stinkin' 
Water  by  Thursday,"  though  on  some  occasions 
numerous  enough  to  sound  like  discourse,  never 
once  broke  the  man's  true  silence.  Seeming  to 
keep  easy  company  with  the  camp,  he  yet  kept 
altogether  to  himself.  That  talking  part  of  him 
—  the  mood  which  brings  out  for  you  your  friend's 

203 


204  THE  VIRGINIAN 

spirit  and  mind  as  a  free  gift  or  as  an  exchange  — 
was  down  in  some  dark  cave  of  his  nature,  hidden 
away.  Perhaps  it  had  been  dreaming;  perhaps 
completely  reposing.  The  Virginian  was  one  of 
those  rare  ones  who  are  able  to  refresh  themselves 
in  sections.  To  have  a  thing  on  his  mind  did  not 
keep  his  body  from  resting.  During  our  recent 
journey  —  it  felt  years  ago  now !  —  while  our 
caboose  on  the  freight  train  had  trundled  endlessly 
westward,  and  the  men  were  on  the  ragged  edge, 
the  very  jumping-off  place,  of  mutiny  and  possible 
murder,  I  had  seen  him  sleep  like  a  child.  He 
snatched  the  moments  not  necessary  for  vigil  I 
had  also  seen  him  sit  all  night  watching  his  re 
sponsibility,  ready  to  spring  on  it  and  fasten  his 
teeth  in  it.  And  now  that  he  had  confounded 
them  with  their  own  attempted  weapon  of  ridicule, 
his  powers  seemed  to  be  profoundly  dormant. 
That  final  pitched  battle  of  wits  had  made  the 
men  his  captives  and  admirers  —  all  save  Tram- 
pas.  And  of  him  the  Virginian  did  not  seem  to 
be  aware. 

But  Scipio  le  Moyne  would  say  to  me  now 
and  then,  "  If  I  was  Trampas,  I'd  pull  my  freight." 
And  once  he  added,  "  Pull  it  kind  of  casual,  yu' 
know,  like  I  wasn't  noticing  myself  do  it." 

"  Yes,"  our  friend  Shorty  murmured  pregnantly, 
with  his  eye  upon  the  quiet  Virginian,  "  he's  sure 
studying  his  revenge." 

"  Studying  your  pussy-cat,"  said  Scipio.  "  He 
knows  what  he'll  do.  The  time  'ain't  arrived." 
This  was  the  way  they  felt  about  it;  and  not 
unnaturally  this  was  the  way  they  made  me,  the 
inexperienced  Easterner,  feel  about  it.  That 


SCIPIO   MORALIZES  205 

Trampas  also  felt  something  about  it  was  easy 
to  know.  Like  the  leaven  which  leavens  the 
whole  lump,  one  spot  of  sulkiness  in  camp  will 
spread  its  dull  flavor  through  any  company  that 
sits  near  it ;  and  we  had  to  sit  near  Trampas  at 
meals  for  nine  days. 

His  sullenness  was  not  wronderful.  To  feel 
himself  forsaken  by  his  recent  adherents,  to  see 
them  gone  over  to  his  enemy,  could  not  have 
made  his  reflections  pleasant.  Why  he  did  not 
take  himself  off  to  other  climes  —  "  pull  his  freight 
casual,"  as  Scipio  said  —  I  can  explain  only  thus : 
pay  was  due  him  —  "time,"  as  it  was  called  in 
cow-land ;  if  he  would  have  this  money,  he  must 
stay  under  the  Virginian's  command  until  the 
Judge's  ranch  on  Sunk  Creek  should  be  reached ; 
meanwhile,  each  day's  work  added  to  the  wages 
in  store  for  him ;  and  finally,  once  at  Sunk 
Creek,  it  would  be  no  more  the  Virginian  who 
commanded  him ;  it  would  be  the  real  ranch 
foreman.  At  the  ranch  he  would  be  the  Vir 
ginian's  equal  again,  both  of  them  taking  orders 
from  their  officially  recognized  superior,  this  fore 
man.  Shorty's  word  about  "  revenge  "  seemed  to 
me  like  putting  the  thing  backwards.  Revenge, 
as  I  told  Scipio,  was  what  I  should  be  thinking 
about  if  I  were  Trampas. 

"  He  dassent,"  was  Scipio's  immediate  view. 
"  Not  till  he's  got  strong  again.  He  got  laughed 
plumb  sick  by  the  bystanders,  and  whatever  spirit 
he  had  was  broke  in  the  presence  of  us  all.  He'll 
have  to  recuperate."  Scipio  then  spoke  of  the 
Virginian's  attitude.  "  Maybe  revenge  ain't  just 
the  right  word  for  where  this  affair  has  got  to 


206  THE   VIRGINIAN 

now  with  him.  When  yu'  beat  another  man  at 
his  own  game  like  he  done  to  Trampas,  why, 
yu've  had  all  the  revenge  yu'  can  want,  unless 
you're  a  hog.  And  he's  no  hog.  But  he  has 
got  it  in  for  Trampas.  They've  not  reckoned  to 
a  finish.  Would  you  let  a  man  try  such  spite- 
work  on  you  and  quit  thinkin'  about  him  just 
because  yu'd  headed  him  off  ? "  To  this  I  offered 
his  own  notion  about  hogs  and  being  satisfied. 
"  Hogs ! "  went  on  Scipio,  in  a  way  that  dashed 
my  suggestion  to  pieces ;  "  hogs  ain't  in  the  case. 
He's  got  to  deal  with  Trampas  somehow  —  man 
to  man.  Trampas  and  him  can't  stay  this  way 
when  they  get  back  and  go  workin'  same  as  they 
worked  before.  No,  sir;  I've  seen  his  eye  twice, 
and  I  know  he's  goin'  to  reckon  to  a  finish." 

I  still  must,  in  Scipio's  opinion,  have  been  slow 
to  understand,  when  on  the  afternoon  following 
this  talk  I  invited  him  to  tell  me  what  sort  of 
"  finish  "  he  wanted,  after  such  a  finishing  as  had 
been  dealt  Trampas  already.  Getting  "  laughed 
plumb  sick  by  the  bystanders "  (I  borrowed  his 
own  not  overstated  expression)  seemed  to  me  a 
highly  final  finishing.  While  I  was  running  my 
notions  off  to  him,  Scipio  rose,  and,  with  the 
frying-pan  he  had  been  washing,  walked  slowly 
at  me. 

"  I  do  believe  you'd  oughtn't  to  be  let  travel 
alone  the  way  you  do."  He  put  his  face  close 
to  mine.  His  long  nose  grew  eloquent  in  its 
shrewdness,  while  the  fire  in  his  bleached  blue 
eye  burned  with  amiable  satire.  "  What  has  come 
and  gone  between  them  two  has  only  settled  the 
one  point  he  was  aimin'  to  make.  He  was  ap- 


SCIPIO    MORALIZES  207 

pointed  boss  of  this  outfit  in  the  absence  of  the 
regular  foreman.  Since  then  all  he  has  been 
playin'  for  is  to  hand  back  his  men  to  the  ranch 
in  as  good  shape  as  they'd  been  handed  to  him, 
and  without  losing  any  on  the  road  through  deser 
tion  or  shooting  or  what  not.  He  had  to  kick 
his  cook  off  the  train  that  day,  and  the  loss  made 
him  sorrowful,  I  could  see.  But  I'd  happened  to 
come  along,  and  he  jumped  me  into  the  vacancy, 
and  I  expect  he  is  pretty  near  consoled.  And 
as  boss  of  the  outfit  he  beat  Trampas,  who  was 
settin'  up  for  opposition  boss.  And  the  outfit  is 
better  than  satisfied  it  come  out  that  way,  and 
they're  stayin'  with  him ;  and  he'll  hand  them 
all  back  in  good  condition,  barrin'  that  lost  cook. 
So  for  the  present  his  point  is  made,  yu'  see.  But 
look  ahead  a  little.  It  may  not  be  so  very  far 
ahead  yu'll  have  to  look.  We  get  back  to  the 
ranch.  He's  not  boss  there  any  more.  His 
responsibility  is  over.  He  is  just  one  of  us  again, 
taking  orders  from  a  foreman  they  tell  me  has 
showed  partiality  to  Trampas  more'n  a  few  times. 
Partiality !  That's  what  Trampas  is  plainly  trust 
ing  to.  Trusting  it  will  fix  him  all  right  and 
fix  his  enemy  all  wrong.  He'd  not  otherwise  dare 
to  keep  sour  like  he's  doing.  Partiality!  D'  yu' 
think  it'll  scare  off  the  enemy  ?  "  Scipio  looked 
across  a  little  creek  to  where  the  Virginian  was 
helping  throw  the  gathered  cattle  on  the  bed- 
ground.  "  What  odds  "  —  he  pointed  the  frying- 
pan  at  the  Southerner  —  "  d'  yu'  figure  Trampas's 
being  under  any  foreman's  wing  will  make  to  a 
man  like  him?  He's  going  to  remember  Mr. 
Trampas  and  his  spite-work  if  he's  got  to  tear 


208  THE  VIRGINIAN 

him  out  from  under  the  wing,  and  maybe  tear 
off  the  wing  in  the  operation.  And  I  am  goin' 
to  advise  your  folks,"  ended  the  complete  Scipio, 
"  not  to  leave  you  travel  so  much  alone  —  not  till 
you've  learned  more  life." 

He  had  made  me  feel  my  inexperience,  con 
vinced  me  of  innocence,  undoubtedly ;  and  during 
the  final  days  of  our  journey  I  no  longer  invoked 
his  aid  to  my  reflections  upon  this  especial  topic : 
What  would  the  Virginian  do  to  Trampas  ? 
Would  it  be  another  intellectual  crushing  of  him, 
like  the  frog  story,  or  would  there  be  something 
this  time  more  material  —  say  muscle,  or  possibly 
gunpowder  —  in  it?  And  was  Scipio,  after  all, 
infallible?  I  didn't  pretend  to  understand  the 
Virginian ;  after  several  years'  knowledge  of  him 
he  remained  utterly  beyond  me.  Scipio's  experi 
ence  was  not  yet  three  weeks  long.  So  I  let  him 
alone  as  to  all  this,  discussing  with  him  most 
other  things  good  and  evil  in  the  world,  and  being 
convinced  of  much  further  innocence  ;  for  Scipio's 
twenty  odd  years  were  indeed  a  library  of  life.  I 
have  never  met  a  better  heart,  a  shrewder  wit,  and 
looser  morals,  with  yet  a  native  sense  of  decency 
and  duty  somewhere  hard  and  fast  enshrined. 

But  all  the  while  I  was  wondering  about  the 
Virginian :  eating  with  him,  sleeping  with  him 
(only  not  so  sound  as  he  did),  and  riding  beside 
him  often  for  many  hours. 

Experiments  in  conversation  I  did  make  —  and 
failed.  One  day  particularly  while,  after  a  sudden 
storm  of  hail  had  chilled  the  earth  numb  and 
white  like  winter  in  fifteen  minutes,  we  sat  drying 
and  warming  ourselves  by  a  fire  that  we  built,  I 


SCIPIO   MORALIZES  209 

touched  upon  that  theme  of  equality  on  which  I 
knew  him  to  hold  opinions  as  strong  as  mine. 
"  Oh,"  he  would  reply,  and  "  Cert'nly " ;  and 
when  I  asked  him  what  it  was  in  a  man  that 
made  him  a  leader  of  men,  he  shook  his  head  and 
puffed  his  pipe.  So  then,  noticing  how  the  sun 
had  brought  the  earth  in  half  an  hour  back  from 
winter  to  summer  again,  I  spoke  of  our  American 
climate. 

It  was  a  potent  drug,  I  said,  for  millions  to  be 
swallowing  every  day. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  wiping  the  damp  from  his  Win 
chester  rifle. 

Our  American  climate,  I  said,  had  worked  re 
markable  changes,  at  least. 

"  Yes,"  he  said ;  and  did  not  ask  what  they 
were. 

So  I  had  to  tell  him.  "  It  has  made  successful 
politicians  of  the  Irish.  That's  one.  And  it  has 
given  our  whole  race  the  habit  of  poker." 

Bang  went  his  Winchester.  The  bullet  struck 
close  to  my  left.  I  sat  up  angrily. 

"  That's  the  first  foolish  thing  I  ever  saw  you 
do  !  "  I  said. 

"  Yes,"  he  drawled  slowly,  "  I'd  ought  to  have 
done  it  sooner.  He  was  pretty  near  lively  again." 
And  then  he  picked  up  a  rattlesnake  six  feet  be 
hind  me.  It  had  been  numbed  by  the  hail,  part 
revived  by  the  sun,  and  he  had  shot  its  head  off. 


XVIII 

I 

"WOULD    YOU    BE    A    PARSON?" 

AFTER  this  I  gave  up  my  experiments  in  con 
versation.  So  that  by  the  final  afternoon  of  our 
journey,  with  Sunk  Creek  actually  in  sight,  and 
the  great  grasshoppers  slatting  their  dry  song  over 
the  sage-brush,  and  the  time  at  hand  when  the 
Virginian  and  Trampas  would  be  "  man  to  man," 
my  thoughts  rose  to  a  considerable  pitch  of  specu 
lation. 

And  now  that  talking  part  of  the  Virginian, 
which  had  been  nine  days  asleep,  gave  its  first 
yawn  and  stretch  of  waking.  Without  preface,  he 
suddenly  asked  me,  "  Would  you  be  a  parson  ?  " 

I  was  mentally  so  far  away  that  I  couldn't  get 
back  in  time  to  comprehend  or  answer  before  he 
had  repeated :  — 

"  What  would  yu'  take  to  be  a  parson  ?  " 

He  drawled  it  out  in  his  gentle  way,  precisely 
as  if  no  nine  days  stood  between  it  and  our  last 
real  intercourse. 

"  Take  ?  "  I  was  still  vaguely  moving  in  my 
distance.  "  How  ?  " 

His  next  question  brought  me  home. 

"  I  expect  the  Pope's  is  the  biggest  of  them 
parson  jobs  ? " 

It  was  with  an  "  Oh ! "  that  I  now  entirely  took 
his  idea.  "  Well,  yes ;  decidedly  the  biggest." 


210 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?"  211 

"  Beats  the  English  one  ?  Archbishop  —  ain't 
it  ?  —  of  Canterbury  ?  The  Pope  comes  ahead  of 
him  ? " 

"  His  Holiness  would  say  so  if  his  Grace  did 
not." 

The  Virginian  turned  half  in  his  saddle  to  see 
my  face  —  I  was,  at  the  moment,  riding  not  quite 
abreast  of  him  —  and  I  saw  the  gleam  of  his  teeth 
beneath  his  mustache.  It  was  seldom  I  could 
make  him  smile,  even  to  this  slight  extent.  But 
his  eyes  grew,  with  his  next  words,  remote  again 
in  their  speculation. 

"  His  Holiness  and  his  Grace.  Now  if  I  was 
to  hear  'em  namin'  me  that-a-way  every  mawnin', 
I'd  sca'cely  get  down  to  business." 

"  Oh,  you'd  get  used  to  the  pride  of  it." 

"'Tisn't  the  pride.  The  laugh  is  what  would 
ruin  me.  'Twould  take  'most  all  my  attention 
keeping  a  straight  face.  The  Archbishop  "  —  here 
he  took  one  of  his  wide  mental  turns  —  "  is  apt  to 
be  a  big  man  in  them  Shakespeare  plays.  Kings 
take  talk  from  him  they'd  not  stand  from  anybody 
else ;  and  he  talks  fine,  frequently.  About  the 
bees,  for  instance,  when  Henry  is  going  to  fight 
France.  He  tells  him  a  beehive  is  similar  to  a 
kingdom.  I  learned  that  piece."  The  Virginian 
could  not  have  expected  to  blush  at  uttering  these 
last  words.  He  knew  that  his  sudden  color  must 
tell  me  in  whose  book  it  was  he  had  learned  the 
piece.  Was  not  her  copy  of  Kenilworth  even 
now  in  his  cherishing  pocket?  So  he  now,  to 
cover  his  blush,  very  deliberately  recited  to  me  the 
Archbishop's  discourse  upon  bees  and  their  king 
dom  :  — 


212  THE   VIRGINIAN 

" '  Where  some,  like  magistrates,  correct  at  home.  .  .  . 
Others,  like  soldiers,  armed  in  their  stings, 
Make  loot  upon  the  summer's  velvet  buds ; 
Which  pillage  they  with  merry  march  bring  home 
To  the  tent-royal  of  their  emperor  : 
He,  busied  in  his  majesty,  surveys 
The  singing  masons  building  roofs  of  gold.' 

"  Ain't  that  a  fine  description  of  bees  a-workin'  ? 
'  The  singing  masons  building  roofs  of  gold ! ' 
Puts  'em  right  before  yu',  and  is  poetry  without 
bein'  foolish.  His  Holiness  and  his  Grace.  Well, 
they  could  not  hire  me  for  either  o'  those  positions. 
How  many  religions  are  there  ?  " 

"  All  over  the  earth  ?  " 

"  Yu'  can  begin  with  ourselves.  Right  hyeh 
at  home  I  know  there's  Romanists,  and  Episco- 
pals  — " 

"  Two  kinds ! "  I  put  in.  "  At  least  two  of 
Episcopals." 

"  That's  three.  Then  Methodists  and  Baptists, 
and—" 

"  Three  Methodists  !  " 

"  Well,  you  do  the  countin'." 

I  accordingly  did  it,  feeling  my  revolving  mem 
ory  slip  cogs  all  the  way  round.  "  Anyhow,  there 
are  safely  fifteen." 

"  Fifteen."  He  held  this  fact  a  moment.  "  And 
they  don't  worship  a  whole  heap  o'  different  gods 
like  the  ancients  did  ?  " 

"Oh,  no!" 

"  It's  just  the  same  one? " 

"  The  same  one." 

The  Virginian  folded  his  hands  over  the  horn 
of  his  saddle,  and  leaned  forward  upon  them  in 
contemplation  of  the  wide,  beautiful  landscape. 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?"  213 

"  One  God  and  fifteen  religions,"  was  his  reflec 
tion.  "  That's  a  right  smart  of  religions  for  just 
one  God." 

This  way  of  reducing  it  was,  if  obvious  to  him, 
so  novel  to  me  that  my  laugh  evidently  struck 
him  as  a  louder  and  livelier  comment  than  was 
required.  He  turned  on  me  as  if  I  had  somehow 
perverted  the  spirit  of  his  words. 

"  I  ain't  religious.  I  know  that.  But  I  ain't 
^religious.  And  I  know  that  too." 

"  So  do  I  know  it,  my  friend." 

"  Do  you  think  there  ought  to  be  fifteen  varie 
ties  of  good  people  ? "  His  voice,  while  it  now 
had  an  edge  that  could  cut  anything  it  came 
against,  was  still  not  raised.  "  There  ain't  fifteen. 
There  ain't  two.  There's  one  kind.  And  when 
I  meet  it,  I  respect  it.  It  is  not  praying  nor 
preaching  that  has  ever  caught  me  and  made  me 
ashamed  of  myself,  but  one  or  two  people  I  have 
knowed  that  never  said  a  superior  word  to  me. 
They  thought  more  o'  me  than  I  deserved,  and 
that  made  me  behave  better  than  I  naturally 
wanted  to.  Made  me  quit  a  girl  onced  in  time 
for  her  not  to  lose  her  good  name.  And  so  that's 
one  thing  I  have  never  done.  And  if  ever  I  was 
to  have  a  son  or  somebody  I  set  store  by,  I  would 
wish  their  lot  to  be  to  know  one  or  two  good 
folks  mighty  well  —  men  or  women  — women 
preferred." 

He  had  looked  away  again  to  the  hills  behind 
Sunk  Creek  ranch,  to  which  our  walking  horses 
had  now  almost  brought  us. 

"As  for  parsons"  —  the  gesture  of  his  arm  was 
a  disclaiming  one  —  "I  reckon  some  parsons  have 


2i4  THE   VIRGINIAN 

a  right  to  tell  yu'  to  be  good.  The  bishop  of  this 
hyeh  Territory  has  a  right.  But  I'll  tell  yu'  this: 
a  middlin'  doctor  is  a  pore  thing,  and  a  middlin' 
lawyer  is  a  pore  thing;  but  keep  me  from  a  mid 
dlin'  man  of  God." 

Once  again  he  had  reduced  it,  but  I  did  not 
laugh  this  time.  I  thought  there  should  in  truth 
be  heavy  damages  for  malpractice  on  human  souls. 
But  the  hot  glow  of  his  words,  and  the  vision  of 
his  deepest  inner  man  it  revealed,  faded  away 
abruptly. 

"  What  do  yu'  make  of  the  proposition  yon- 
deh  ?  "  As  he  pointed  to  the  cause  of  this  ques 
tion  he  had  become  again  his  daily,  engaging, 
saturnine  self. 

Then  I  saw  over  in  a  fenced  meadow,  to  which 
we  were  now  close,  what  he  was  pleased  to  call 
"  the  proposition."  Proposition  in  the  West  does, 
in  fact,  mean  whatever  you  at  the  moment  please, 
—  an  offer  to  sell  you  a  mine,  a  cloud-burst,  a 
glass  of  whiskey,  a  steamboat.  This  time  it 
meant  a  stranger  clad  in  black,  and  of  a  clerical 
deportment  which  would  in  that  atmosphere  and 
to  a  watchful  eye  be  visible  for  a  mile  or  two. 

"  I  reckoned  yu'  hadn't  noticed  him,"  was  the 
Virginian's  reply  to  my  ejaculation.  "  Yes.  He 
set  me  goin'  on  the  subject  a  while  back.  I  expect 
he  is  another  missionary  to  us  pore  cow-boys." 

I  seemed  from  a  hundred  yards  to  feel  the 
stranger's  forceful  personality.  It  was  in  his 
walk  — - 1  should  better  say  stalk  —  as  he  prome 
naded  along  the  creek.  His  hands  were  behind 
his  back,  and  there  was  an  air  of  waiting,  of  dis 
pleased  waiting,  in  his  movement. 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?"  215 

"  Yes,  he'll  be  a  missionary,"  said  the  Virginian, 
conclusively ;  and  he  took  to'  singing,  or  rather 
to  whining,  with  his  head  tilted  at  an  absurd 
angle  upward  at  the  sky :  — 

"  '  Bar  is  a  big  Car'lina  nigger, 

About  de  size  of  dis  chile  or  p'raps  a  little  bigger, 

By  de  name  of  Jim  Crow. 
Dat  what  de  white  folks  call  him. 
If  ever  I  sees  him  I  'tends  for  to  maul  him, 

Just  to  let  de  white  folks  see 

Such  an  animos  as  he 
Can't  walk  around  the  streets  and  scandalize  me.' " 

The  lane  which  was  conducting  us  to  the 
group  of  ranch  buildings  now  turned  a  corner 
of  the  meadow,  and  the  Virginian  went  on  with 
his  second  verse :  — 

" '  Great  big  fool,  he  hasn't  any  knowledge. 

Gosh  !  how  could  he,  when  he's  never  been  to  scollege  ? 
Neither  has  I. 

But  I'se  come  mighty  nigh ; 
I  peaked  through  de  door  as  I  went  by.'  " 

He  was  beginning  a  third  stanza,  but  stopped 
short ;  a  horse  had  neighed  close  behind  us. 

"  Trampas,"  said  he,  without  turning  his  head, 
"  we  are  home." 

"  It  looks  that  way."  Some  ten  yards  were 
between  ourselves  and  Trampas,  where  he  fol 
lowed. 

"  And  I'll  trouble  yu'  for  my  rope  yu'  took  this 
mawnin'  instead  o'  your  own." 

"  I  don't  know  as  it's  your  rope  I've  got." 
Trampas  skilfully  spoke  this  so  that  a  precisely 
opposite  meaning  flowed  from  his  words. 

If  it  was  discussion  he  tried  for,  he  failed.    The 


216  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Virginian's  hand  moved,  and  for  one  thick,  flash 
ing  moment  my  thoughts  were  evidently  also  the 
thoughts  of  Trampas.  But  the  Virginian  only 
held  out  to  Trampas  the  rope  which  he  had  de 
tached  from  his  saddle. 

"  Take  your  hand  off  your  gun,  Trampas.  If  I 
had  wanted  to  kill  yu'  you'd  be  lying  nine  days 
back  on  the  road  now.  Here's  your  rope.  Did  yu' 
expect  I'd  not  know  it  ?  It's  the  only  one  in  camp 
the  stiffness  ain't  all  drug  out  of  yet.  Or  maybe 
yu'  expected  me  to  notice  and  —  not  take  notice  ?  " 

"  I  don't  spend  my  time  in  expectations  about 
you.  If  —  " 

The  Virginian  wheeled  his  horse  across  the 
road.  "  Yu're  talkin'  too  soon  after  reachin' 
safety,  Trampas.  I  didn't  tell  yu'  to  hand  me 
that  rope  this  mawnin',  because  I  was  busy.  I 
ain't  foreman  now;  and  I  want  that  rope." 

Trampas  produced  a  smile  as  skilful  as  his 
voice.  "  Well,  I  guess  your  having  mine  proves 
this  one  is  yours."  He  rode  up  and  received  the 
coil  which  the  Virginian  held  out,  unloosing  the 
disputed  one  on  his  saddle.  If  he  had  meant  to 
devise  a  slippery,  evasive  insult,  no  small  trick  in 
cow-land  could  be  more  offensive  than  this  taking 
another  man's  rope.  And  it  is  the  small  tricks 
which  lead  to  the  big  bullets.  Trampas  put  a 
smooth  coating  of  plausibility  over  the  whole 
transaction.  "  After  the  rope  corral  we  had  to 
make  this  morning  " — his  tone  was  mock  explana 
tory —  "the  ropes  was  all  strewed  round  camp, 
and  in  the  hustle  I  —  " 

"  Pardon  me,"  said  a  sonorous  voice  behind  us, 
"do  you  happen  to  have  seen  Judge  Henry?"  It 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?"  217 

was  the  reverend  gentleman  in  his  meadow,  come 
to  the  fence.  As  we  turned  round  to  him  he  spoke 
on,  with  much  rotund  authority  in  his  eye.  "  From 
his  answer  to  my  letter,  Judge  Henry  undoubtedly 
expects  me  here.  I  have  arrived  from  Fetterman 
according  to  my  plan  which  I  announced  to  him, 
to  find  that  he  has  been  absent  all  day  —  absent 
the  whole  day." 

The  Virginian  sat  sidewise  to  talk,  one  long, 
straight  leg  supporting  him  on  one  stirrup,  the 
other  bent  at  ease,  the  boot  half  lifted  from  its 
dangling  stirrup.  He  made  himself  the  perfec 
tion  of  courtesy.  "  The  Judge  is  frequently  ab 
sent  all  night,  seh." 

"Scarcely  to-night,  I  think.  I  thought  you 
might  know  something  about  him." 

"  I  have  been  absent  myself,  seh." 

"  Ah  !  On  a  vacation,  perhaps  ?  "  The  divine 
had  a  ruddy  face.  His  strong  glance  was  straight 
and  frank  and  fearless ;  but  his  smile  too  much 
reminded  me  of  days  bygone,  when  we  used  to 
return  to  school  from  the  Christmas  holidays,  and 
the  masters  would  shake  our  hands  and  welcome 
us  with :  "  Robert,  John,  Edward,  glad  to  see  you 
all  looking  so  well !  Rested,  and  ready  for  hard 
work,  I'm  sure  !  " 

That  smile  does  not  really  please  even  good, 
tame  little  boys ;  and  the  Virginian  was  nearing 
thirty. 

"  It  has  not  been  vacation  this  trip,  seh,"  said 
he,  settling  straight  in  his  saddle.  "  There's  the 
Judge  driving  in  now,  in  time  for  all  questions  yu' 
have  to  ask  him." 

His  horse  took  a  step,  but  was  stopped  short. 


2i8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

There  lay  the  Virginian's  rope  on  the  ground.  I 
had  been  aware  of  Trampas's  quite  proper  de 
parture  during  the  talk;  and  as  he  was  leaving, 
I  seemed  also  to  be  aware  of  his  placing  the  coil 
across  the  cantle  of  its  owner's  saddle.  Had  he 
intended  it  to  fall  and  have  to  be  picked  up  ?  It 
was  another  evasive  little  business,  and  quite  suc 
cessful,  if  designed  to  nag  the  owner  of  the  rope. 
A  few  hundred  yards  ahead  of  us  Trampas  was 
now  shouting  loud  cow-boy  shouts.  Were  they 
to  announce  his  return  to  those  at  home,  or  did 
they  mean  derision  ?  The  Virginian  leaned,  keep 
ing  his  seat,  and,  swinging  down  his  arm,  caught 
up  the  rope,  and  hung  it  on  his  saddle  somewhat 
carefully.  But  the  hue  of  rage  spread  over  his 
face. 

From  his  fence  the  divine  now  spoke,  in  appro 
bation,  but  with  another  strong,  cheerless  smile. 
"  You  pick  up  that  rope  as  if  you  were  well  trained 
to  it." 

"  It's  part  of  our  business,  seh,  and  we  try  to 
mind  it  like  the  rest."  But  this,  stated  in  a  gentle 
drawl,  did  not  pierce  the  missionary's  armor ;  his 
superiority  was  very  thick. 

We  now  rode  on,  and  I  was  impressed  by  the 
reverend  gentleman's  robust,  dictatorial  back  as 
he  proceeded  by  a  short  cut  through  the  meadow 
to  the  ranch.  You  could  take  him  for  nothing 
but  a  vigorous,  sincere,  dominating  man,  full  of 
the  highest  purpose.  But  whatever  his  creed,  I 
already  doubted  if  he  were  the  right  one  to  sow 
it  and  make  it  grow  in  these  new,  wild  fields.  He 
seemed  more  the  sort  of  gardener  to  keep  old  walks 
and  vines  pruned  in  their  antique  rigidity.  I  ad- 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?"  219 

mired  him  for  coming  all  this  way  with  his  clean, 
short,  gray  whiskers  and  his  black,  well-brushed 
suit.  And  he  made  me  think  of  a  powerful  loco 
motive  stuck  puffing  on  a  grade. 

Meanwhile,  the  Virginian  rode  beside  me,  so 
silent  in  his  volcanic  wrath  that  I  did  not  perceive 
it.  The  missionary  coming  on  top  of  Trampas 
had  been  more  than  he  could  stand.  But  I  did 
not  know,  and  I  spoke  with  innocent  cheeriness. 

"  Is  the  parson  going  to  save  us  ?  "  I  asked ;  and 
I  fairly  jumped  at  his  voice :  — 

"  Don't  talk  so  much ! "  he  burst  out.  I  had 
got  the  whole  accumulation ! 

"  Who's  been  talking  ? "'  I  in  equal  anger 
screeched  back.  "  I'm  not  trying  to  save  you. 
I  didn't  take  your  rope."  And  having  poured 
this  out,  I  whipped  up  my  pony. 

But  he  spurred  his  own  alongside  of  me ;  and 
glancing  at  him,  I  saw  that  he  was  now  convulsed 
with  internal  mirth.  I  therefore  drew  down  to  a 
walk,  and  he  straightened  into  gravity. 

"  I'm  right  obliged  to  yu,'  "  he  laid  his  hand 
in  its  buckskin  gauntlet  upon  my  horse's  mane  as 
he  spoke,  "  for  bringing  me  back  out  o'  my  non 
sense.  I'll  be  as  serene  as  a  bird  now  —  whatever 
they  do.  A  man,"  he  stated  reflectively,  "  any 
full-sized  man,  ought  to  own  a  big  lot  of  temper. 
And  like  all  his  valuable  possessions,  he'd  ought 
to  keep  it  and  not  lose  any."  This  was  his  full 
apology.  "As  for  salvation,  I  have  got  this  far: 
somebody,"  he  swept  an  arm  at  the  sunset  and 
the  mountains,  "must  have  made  all  that,  I  know. 
But  I  know  one  more  thing  I  would  tell  Him 
to  His  face:  if  I  can't  do  nothing  long  enough 


220  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  good  enough  to  earn  eternal  happiness,  I 
can't  do  nothing  long  enough  and  bad  enough  to 
be  damned.  I  reckon  He  plays  a  square  game 
with  us  if  He  plays  at  all,  and  I  ain't  bothering 
my  haid  about  other  worlds." 

As  we  reached  the  stables,  he  had  become  the 
serene  bird  he  promised,  and  was  sentimentally 
continuing:  — 

"  *  De  sun  is  made  of  mud  from  de  bottom  of  de  river ; 
De  moon  is  made  o'  fox-fire,  as  you  might  disciver ; 
De  stars  like  de  ladies'  eyes, 
All  round  de  world  dey  flies, 
To  give  a  little  light  when  de  moon  don't  rise.' " 

If  words  were  meant  to  conceal  our  thoughts, 
melody  is  perhaps  a  still  thicker  veil  for  them. 
Whatever  temper  he  had  lost,  he  had  certainly 
found  again ;  but  this  all  the  more  fitted  him  to 
deal  with  Trampas,  when  the  dealing  should  begin. 
I  had  half  a  mind  to  speak  to  the  Judge,  only  it 
seemed  beyond  a  mere  visitor's  business.  Our 
missionary  was  at  this  moment  himself  speaking 
to  Judge  Henry  at  the  door  of  the  home  ranch. 

"  I  reckon  he's  explaining  he  has  been  a-waiting." 
The  Virginian  was  throwing  his  saddle  off  as  I 
loosened  the  cinches  of  mine.  "  And  the  Judge 
don't  look  like  he  was  hopelessly  distressed." 

I  now  surveyed  the  distant  parley,  and  the 
Judge,  from  the  wagonful  of  guests  whom  he  had 
evidently  been  driving  upon  a  day's  excursion, 
waved  me  a  welcome,  which  I  waved  back.  "  He's 
got  Miss  Molly  Wood  there ! "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Yes."  The  Virginian  was  brief  about  this 
fact.  "  I'll  look  afteh  your  saddle.  You  go  and 
get  acquainted  with  the  company." 


"WOULD   YOU   BE   A   PARSON?" 


221 


This  favor  I  accepted ;  it  was  the  means  he 
chose  for  saying  he  hoped,  after  our  recent  boiling 
over,  that  all  was  now  more  than  right  between 
us.  So  for  the  while  I  left  him  to  his  horses,  and 
his  corrals,  and  his  Trampas,  and  his  foreman,  and 
his  imminent  problem. 


XIX 

DR.  MACBRIDE  BEGS  PARDON 

JUDGE  and  Mrs.  Henry,  Molly  Wood,  and  two 
strangers,  a  lady  and  a  gentleman,  were  the  party 
which  had  been  driving  in  the  large  three-seated 
wagon.  They  had  seemed  a  merry  party.  But 
as  I  came  within  hearing  of  their  talk,  it  was  a 
fragment  of  the  minister's  sonority  which  reached 
me  first :  — 

"...  more  opportunity  for  them  to  have  the 
benefit  of  hearing  frequent  sermons,"  was  the  sen 
tence  I  heard  him  bring  to  completion. 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure,  sir."  Judge  Henry  gave  me 
(it  almost  seemed)  additional  warmth  of  welcome 
for  arriving  to  break  up  the  present  discourse. 
"  Let  me  introduce  you  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander 
Mac  Bride.  Doctor,  another  guest  we  have  been 
hoping  for  about  this  time,"  was  my  host's  cor 
dial  explanation  to  him  of  me.  There  remained 
the  gentleman  with  his  wife  from  New  York,  and 
to  these  I  made  my  final  bows.  But  I  had  not 
broken  up  the  discourse. 

"  We  may  be  said  to  have  met  already."  Dr. 
Mac  Bride  had  fixed  upon  me  his  full,  mastering 
eye  ;  and  it  occurred  to  me  that  if  they  had  police 
men  in  heaven,  he  would  be  at  least  a  centurion  in 
the  force.  But  he  did  not  mean  to  be  unpleasant ; 

222 


Dr..  MACBRIDE  BEGS  PARDON  223 

it  was  only  that  in  a  mind  full  of  matters  less 
worldly,  pleasure  was  left  out.  "  I  observed  your 
friend  was  a  skilful  horseman,"  he  continued.  "  I 
was  saying  to  Judge  Henry  that  I  could  wish  such 
skilful  horsemen  might  ride  to  a  church  upon  the 
Sabbath.  A  church,  that  is,  of  right  doctrine, 
where  they  would  have  opportunity  to  hear  fre 
quent  sermons." 

"  Yes,"  said  Judge  Henry,  "  yes.  It  would  be 
a  good  thing." 

Mrs.  Henry,  with  some  murmur  about  the 
kitchen,  here  went  into  the  house. 

"I  was  informed,"  Dr.  Mac  Bride  held  the  rest 
of  us,  "before  undertaking  my  journey  that  I 
should  find  a  desolate  and  mainly  godless  country. 
But  nobody  gave  me  to  understand  that  from 
Medicine  Bow  I  was  to  drive  three  hundred  miles 
and  pass  no  church  of  any  faith." 

The  Judge  explained  that  there  had  been  a  few 
a  long  way  to  the  right  and  left  of  him.  "  Still," 
he  conceded,  "  you  are  quite  right.  But  don't  for 
get  that  this  is  the  newest  part  of  a  new  world." 

"  Judge,"  said  his  wife,  coming  to  the  door, 
"how  can  you  keep  them  standing  in  the  dust 
with  your  talking  ?  " 

This  most  efficiently  did  break  up  the  discourse. 
As  our  little  party,  with  the  smiles  and  the  polite 
holdings  back  of  new  acquaintanceship,  moved 
into  the  house,  the  Judge  detained  me  behind  all 
of  them  long  enough  to  whisper  dolorously,  "  He's 
going  to  stay  a  whole  week." 

I  had  hopes  that  he  would  not  stay  a  whole 
week  when  I  presently  learned  of  the  crowded 
arrangements  which  our  hosts,  with  many  hospit- 


224  THE   VIRGINIAN 

able  apologies,  disclosed  to  us.  Thsy  were  de 
lighted  to  have  us,  but  they  hadn't  foreseen  that 
we  should  all  be  simultaneous.  The  foreman's 
house  had  been  prepared  for  two  of  us,  and  did  we 
mind?  The  two  of  us  were  Dr.  MacBride  and 
myself ;  and  I  expected  him  to  mind.  But  I 
wronged  him  grossly.  It  would  be  much  better, 
he  assured  Mrs.  Henry,  than  straw  in  a  stable, 
which  he  had  tried  several  times,  and  was  quite 
ready  for.  So  I  saw  that  though  he  kept  his  vig 
orous  body  clean  when  he  could,  he  cared  noth 
ing  for  it  in  the  face  of  his  mission.  How  the 
foreman  and  his  wife  relished  being  turned  out 
during  a  week  for  a  missionary  and  myself  was 
not  my  concern,  although  while  he  and  I  made 
ready  for  supper  over  there,  it  struck  me  as  hard 
on  them.  The  room  with  its  two  cots  and  furni 
ture  was  as  nice  as  possible ;  and  we  closed  the 
door  upon  the  adjoining  room,  which,  however, 
seemed  also  untenanted. 

Mrs.  Henry  gave  us  a  meal  so  good  that  I  have 
remembered  it,  and  her  husband  the  Judge  strove 
his  best  that  we  should  eat  it  in  merriment.  He 
poured  out  his  anecdotes  like  wine,  and  we  should 
have  quickly  warmed  to  them  ;  but  Dr.  MacBride 
sat  among  us,  giving  occasional  heavy  ha-ha's, 
which  produced,  as  Miss  Molly  Wood  whispered 
to  me,  a  "  dreadfully  cavernous  effect."  Was  it  his 
sermon,  we  wondered,  that  he  was  thinking  over  ? 
I  told  her  of  the  copious  sheaf  of  them  I  had  seen 
him  pull  from  his  wallet  over  at  the  foreman's. 
"  Goodness  !  "  said  she.  "  Then  are  we  to  hear 
one  every  evening  ? "  This  I  doubted  ;  he  had 
probably  been  picking  one  out  suitable  for  the 


DR.   MAcBRIDE   BEGS  PARDON  225 

occasion.  "  Putting  his  best  foot  foremost,"  was 
her  comment ;  "  I  suppose  they  have  best  feet, 
like  the  rest  of  us."  Then  she  grew  delightfully 
sharp.  "  Do  you  know,  when  I  first  heard  him  I 
thought  his  voice  was  hearty.  But  if  you  listen, 
you'll  find  it's  merely  militant.  He  never  really 
meets  you  with  it.  He's  off  on  his  hill  watching 
the  battle-field  the  whole  time." 

"  He  will  find  a  hardened  pagan  here." 

"Judge  Henry?" 

"  Oh,  no  !  The  wild  man  you're  taming.  He's 
brought  you  Kenilworth  safe  back." 

She  was  smooth.  "  Oh,  as  for  taming  him ! 
But  don't  you  find  him  intelligent?" 

Suddenly  I  somehow  knew  that  she  didn't  want 
to  tame  him.  But  what  did  she  want  to  do  ?  The 
thought  of  her  had  made  him  blush  this  afternoon. 
No  thought  of  him  made  her  blush  this  evening. 

A  great  laugh  from  the  rest  of  the  company 
made  me  aware  that  the  Judge  had  consummated 
his  tale  of  the  "  Sole  Survivor." 

"  And  so,"  he  finished,  "  they  all  went  off  as  mad 
as  hops  because  it  hadn't  been  a  massacre."  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ogden  —  they  were  the  New  Yorkers 
—  gave  this  story  much  applause,  and  Dr.  Mac- 
Bride  half  a  minute  later  laid  his  "  ha-ha,"  like 
a  heavy  stone,  upon  the  gayety. 

"  I'll  never  be  able  to  stand  seven  sermons," 
said  Miss  Wood  to  me. 

"  Talking  of  massacres,"  —  I  now  hastened  to 
address  the  already  saddened  table,  —  "I  have  re 
cently  escaped  one  myself." 

The  Judge  had  come  to  an  end  of  his  powers. 
"  Oh,  tell  us  !  "  he  implored. 

Q 


226  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Seriously,  sir,  I  think  we  grazed  pretty  wet 
tragedy ;  but  your  extraordinary  man  brought  us 
out  into  comedy  safe  and  dry." 

This  gave  me  their  attention  ;  and,  from  that 
afternoon  in  Dakota  when  I  had  first  stepped 
aboard  the  caboose,  I  told  them  the  whole  tale  of 
my  experience  :  how  I  grew  immediately  aware 
that  all  was  not  right,  by  the  Virginian's  kicking 
the  cook  off  the  train ;  how,  as  we  journeyed,  the 
dark  bubble  of  mutiny  swelled  hourly  beneath  my 
eyes ;  and  how,  when  it  was  threatening  I  know 
not  what  explosion,  the  Virginian  had  pricked  it 
with  humor,  so  that  it  burst  in  nothing  but  harm 
less  laughter. 

Their  eyes  followed  my  narrative:  the  New 
Yorkers,  because  such  events  do  not  happen  upon 
the  shores  of  the  Hudson  ;  Mrs.  Henry,  because 
she  was  my  hostess;  Miss  Wood  followed  for 
whatever  her  reasons  were  —  I  couldn't  see  her 
eyes;  rather,  I  felt  her  listening  intently  to  the 
deeds  and  dangers  of  the  man  she  didn't  care  to 
tame.  But  it  was  the  eyes  of  the  Judge  and  the 
missionary  which  I  saw  riveted  upon  me  indeed 
until  the  end ;  and  they  forthwith  made  plain 
their  quite  dissimilar  opinions. 

Judge  Henry  struck  the  table  lightly  with  his 
fist.  "  I  knew  it ! "  And  he  leaned  back  in  his 
chair  with  a  face  of  contentment.  He  had  trusted 
his  man,  and  his  man  had  proved  worthy. 

"  Pardon  me."  Dr.  Mac  Bride  had  a  manner  of 
saying  "  pardon  me,"  which  rendered  forgiveness 
well-nigh  impossible. 

The  Judge  waited  for  him. 

"  Am  I  to  understand  that  these —  a  —  cow-boys 


DR.    MACBRIDE    BEGS   PARDON  227 

attempted  to  mutiny,  and  were  discouraged  in  this 
attempt  upon  finding  themselves  less  skilful  at  ly 
ing  than  the  man  they  had  plotted  to  depose  ? " 

I  began  an  answer.  "  It  was  other  qualities,  sir, 
that  happened  to  be  revealed  and  asserted  by  what 
you  call  his  lying  that  —  " 

"  And  what  am  I  to  call  it,  if  it  is  not  lying  ? 
A  competition  in  deceit  in  which,  I  admit,  he  out 
did  them." 

"  It's  their  way  to  —  " 

"  Pardon  me.  Their  way  to  lie  ?  They  bow 
down  to  the  greatest  in  this?" 

"  Oh,"  said  Miss  Wood  in  my  ear,  "  give  him  up." 

The  Judge  took  a  turn.  "We-ell,  Doctor—" 
He  seemed  to  stick  here. 

Mr.  Ogden  handsomely  assisted  him.  "  You've 
said  the  word  yourself,  Doctor.  It's  the  competi 
tion,  don't  you  see  ?  The  trial  of  strength  by  no 
matter  what  test." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Wood,  unexpectedly.  "  And 
it  wasn't  that  George  Washington  couldn't  tell  a 
lie.  He  just  wouldn't.  I'm  sure  if  he'd  under 
taken  to  he'd  have  told  a  much  better  one  than 
Cornwallis." 

"  Ha-ha,  madam  !  You  draw  an  ingenious  sub 
tlety  from  your  books." 

"  It's  all  plain  to  me,"  Ogden  pursued.  "  The 
men  were  morose.  This  foreman  was  in  the 
minority.  He  cajoled  them  into  a  bout  of  tall 
stories,  and  told  the  tallest  himself.  And  when 
they  found  they  had  swallowed  it  whole  —  well, 
it  would  certainly  take  the  starch  out  of  me,"  he 
concluded.  "  I  couldn't  be  a  serious  mutineer 
after  that" 


228  THE  VIRGINIAN 

Dr.  Mac  Bride  now  sounded  his  strongest  bass. 
"  Pardon  me.  I  cannot  accept  such  a  view,  sir. 
There  is  a  levity  abroad  in  our  land  which  I  must 
deplore.  No  matter  how  leniently  you  may  try 
to  put  it,  in  the  end  we  have  the  spectacle  of  a 
struggle  between  men  where  lying  decides  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  Better,  far  better,  if  it  was 
to  come,  that  they  had  shot  honest  bullets.  There 
are  worse  evils  than  war." 

The  Doctor's  eye  glared  righteously  about  him. 
None  of  us,  I  think,  trembled ;  or,  if  we  did,  it  was 
with  emotions  other  than  fear.  Mrs.  Henry  at 
once  introduced  the  subject  of  trout-fishing,  and 
thus  happily  removed  us  from  the  edge  of  what 
ever  sort  of  precipice  we  seemed  to  have  ap 
proached ;  for  Dr.  Mac  Bride  had  brought  his 
rod.  He  dilated  upon  this  sport  with  fervor, 
and  we  assured  him  that  the  streams  upon  the 
west  slope  of  the  Bow  Leg  Mountains  would 
afford  him  plenty  of  it.  Thus  we  ended  our 
meal  in  carefully  preserved  amity. 


XX 

THE   JUDGE    IGNORES    PARTICULARS 

"  Do  you  often  have  these  visitations  ?  "  Ogden 
inquired  of  Judge  Henry.  Our  host  was  giving 
us  whiskey  in  his  office,  and  Dr.  Mac  Bride,  while 
we  smoked  apart  from  the  ladies,  had  repaired  to 
his  quarters  in  the  foreman's  house  previous  to 
the  service  which  he  was  shortly  to  hold. 

The  Judge  laughed.  "  They  come  now  and 
then  through  the  year.  I  like  the  bishop  to 
come.  And  the  men  always  like  it.  But  I  fear 
our  friend  will  scarcely  please  them  so  well." 

"  You  don't  mean  they'll  —  " 

"  Oh,  no.  They'll  keep  quiet.  The  fact  is,  they 
have  a  good  deal  better  manners  than  he  has,  if 
he  only  knew  it.  They'll  be  able  to  bear  him. 
But  as  for  any  good  he'll  do  —  " 

"  I  doubt  if  he  knows  a  word  of  science,"  said  I, 
musing  about  the  Doctor. 

"  Science  !  He  doesn't  know  what  Christianity 
is  yet.  I've  entertained  many  guests,  but  none  — 
The  whole  secret,"  broke  off  Judge  Henry,  "lies 
in  the  way  you  treat  people.  As  soon  as  you 
treat  men  as  your  brothers,  they  are  ready  to 
acknowledge  you  —  if  you  deserve  it  —  as  their 
superior.  That's  the  whole  bottom  of  Christian 
ity,  and  that's  what  our  missionary  will  never 
know." 

229 


23o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

There  was  a  somewhat  heavy  knock  at  the 
office  door,  and  I  think  we  all  feared  it  was  Dr. 
MacBride.  But  when  the  Judge  opened,  the 
Virginian  was  standing  there  in  the  darkness. 

u  So  !  "  The  Judge  opened  the  door  wide.  He 
was  very  hearty  to  the  man  he  had  trusted. 
"You're  back  at  last." 

"  I  came  to  repawt." 

While  they  shook  hands,  Ogden  nudged  me. 
"That  the  fellow?"  I  nodded.  "Fellow  who 
kicked  the  cook  off  the  train  ?  "  I  again  nodded, 
and  he  looked  at  the  Virginian,  his  eye  and  his 
stature. 

Judge  Henry,  properly  democratic,  now  intro 
duced  him  to  Ogden. 

The  New  Yorker  also  meant  to  be  properly 
democratic.  "You're  the  man  I've  been  hearing 
such  a  lot  about." 

But  familiarity  is  not  equality.  "  Then  I  ex 
pect  yu'  have  the  advantage  of  me,  seh,"  said  the 
Virginian,  very  politely.  "  Shall  I  repawt  to- 
morro'?"  His  grave  eyes  were  on  the  Judge 
again.  Of  me  he  had  taken  no  notice ;  he  had 
come  as  an  employee  to  see  his  employer. 

"  Yes,  yes ;  I'll  want  to  hear  about  the  cattle 
to-morrow.  But  step  inside  a  moment  now. 
There's  a  matter  —  ':  The  Virginian  stepped 
inside,  and  took  off  his  hat.  "  Sit  down.  You 
had  trouble —  I've  heard  something  about  it,"  the 
Judge  went  on. 

The  Virginian  sat  down,  grave  and  graceful. 
But  he  held  the  brim  of  his  hat  all  the  while. 
He  looked  at  Ogden  and  me,  and  then  back  at  his 
employer.  There  was  reluctance  in  his  eye. 


THE  JUDGE   IGNORES   PARTICULARS         231 

wondered  if  his  employer  could  be  going  to  make 
him  tell  his  own  exploits  in  the  presence  of  us 
outsiders ;  and  there  came  into  my  memory  the 
Bengal  tiger  at  a  trained-animal  show  I  had  once 
seen. 

"  You  had  some  trouble,"  repeated  the  Judge. 

"Well,  there  was  a  time  when  they  maybe 
wanted  to  have  notions.  They're  good  boys." 
And  he  smiled  a  very  little. 

Contentment  increased  in  the  Judge's  face. 
"  Trampas  a  good  boy  too  ?  " 

But  this  time  the  Bengal  tiger  did  not  smile. 
He  sat  with  his  eye  fastened  on  his  employer. 

The  Judge  passed  rather  quickly  on  to  his  next 
point.  "  You've  brought  them  all  back,  though, 
I  understand,  safe  and  sound,  without  a  scratch  ?  " 

The  Virginian  looked  down  at  his  hat,  then  up 
again  at  the  Judge,  mildly.  "  I  had  to  part  with 
my  cook." 

There  was  no  use ;  Ogden  and  myself  exploded. 
Even  upon  the  embarrassed  Virginian  a  large 
grin  slowly  forced  itself.  "  I  guess  yu'  know 
about  it,"  he  murmured.  And  he  looked  at  me 
with  a  sort  of  reproach.  He  knew  it  was  I  who 
had  told  tales  out  of  school. 

"  I  only  want  to  say,"  said  Ogden,  conciliat- 
ingly,  "  that  I  know  I  couldn't  have  handled  those 


men." 


The  Virginian  relented.  "  Yu'  never  tried, 
seh." 

The  Judge  had  remained  serious;  but  he 
showed  himself  plainly  more  and  more  contented. 
"  Quite  right,"  he  said.  "  You  had  to  part  with 
your  cook.  When  I  put  a  man  in  charge,  I  put 


232  THE   VIRGINIAN 

him  in  charge.  I  don't  make  particulars  my 
business.  They're  to  be  always  his.  Do  you 
understand  ?  " 

"  Thank  yu'."  The  Virginian  understood  that 
his  employer  was  praising  his  management  of  the 
expedition.  But  I  don't  think  he  at  all  discerned 
—  as  I  did  presently  —  that  his  employer  had 
just  been  putting  him  to  a  further  test,  had  laid 
before  him  the  temptation  of  complaining  of  a 
fellow-workman  and  blowing  his  own  trumpet, 
and  was  delighted  with  his  reticence.  He  made 
a  movement  to  rise. 

"  I  haven't  finished,"  said  the  Judge.  "  I  was 
coming  to  the  matter.  There's  one  particular  — 
since  I  do  happen  to  have  been  told.  I  fancy 
Trampas  has  learned  something  he  didn't  expect." 

This  time  the  Virginian  evidently  did  not 
understand,  any  more  than  I  did.  One  hand 
played  with  his  hat,  mechanically  turning  it 
round. 

The  Judge  explained.  "  I  mean  about  Rob 
erts." 

A  pulse  of  triumph  shot  over  the  Southerner's 
face,  turning  it  savage  for  that  fleeting  instant. 
He  understood  now,  and  was  unable  to  suppress 
this  much  answer.  But  he  was  silent. 

"  You  see,"  the  Judge  explained  to  me,  "  I  was 
obliged  to  let  Roberts,  my  old  foreman,  go  last 
week.  His  wife  could  not  have  stood  another 
winter  here,  and  a  good  position  was  offered  to 
him  near  Los  Angeles." 

I  did  see.  I  saw  a  number  of  things.  I  saw 
why  the  foreman's  house  had  been  empty  to  re 
ceive  Dr.  Mac  Bride  and  me.  And  I  saw  that  the 


JUDGE   IGNORES   PARTICULARS         233 

Judge  had  been  very  clever  indeed.  For  I  had 
abstained  from  telling  any  tales  about  the  present 
feeling  between  Trampas  and  the  Virginian ;  but 
he  had  divined  it.  Well  enough  for  him  to  say 
that  "  particulars  "  were  something  he  let  alone ; 
he  evidently  kept  a  deep  eye  on  the  undercur 
rents  at  his  ranch.  He  knew  that  in  Roberts, 
Trampas  had  lost  a  powerful  friend.  And  this 
was  what  I  most  saw,  this  final  fact,  that  Tram- 
pas  had  no  longer  any  intervening  shield.  He 
and  the  Virginian  stood  indeed  man  to  man. 

"  And  so,"  the  Judge  continued  speaking  to  me, 
"  here  I  am  at  a  very  inconvenient  time  without 
a  foreman.  Unless,"  I  caught  the  twinkle  in 
his  eyes  before  he  turned  to  the  Virginian,  "  un 
less  you're  willing  to  take  the  position  yourself. 
Will  you  ? " 

I  saw  the  Southerner's  hand  grip  his  hat  as  he 
was  turning  it  round.  He  held  it  still  now,  and 
his  other  hand  found  it  and  gradually  crumpled 
the  soft  crown  in.  It  meant  everything  to  him : 
recognition,  higher  station,  better  fortune,  a  sepa 
rate  house  of  his  own,  and  —  perhaps  —  one  step 
nearer  to  the  woman  he  wanted.  I  don't  know 
what  words  he  might  have  said  to  the  Judge  had 
they  been  alone,  but  the  Judge  had  chosen  to  do 
it  in  our  presence,  the  whole  thing  from  begin 
ning  to  end.  The  Virginian  sat  with  the  damp 
coming  out  on  his  forehead,  and  his  eyes  dropped 
from  his  employer's. 

"  Thank  yu',"  was  what  he  managed  at  last  to 
say. 

"  Well,  now,  I'm  greatly  relieved ! "  exclaimed 
the  Judge,  rising  at  once.  He  spoke  with  haste, 


234  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  lightly.  "  That's  excellent.  I  was  in  some 
thing  of  a  hole,"  he  said  to  Ogden  and  me ;  "  and 
this  gives  me  one  thing  less  to  think  of.  Saves 
me  a  lot  of  particulars,"  he  jocosely  added  to  the 
Virginian,  who  was  now  also  standing  up.  "  Be 
gin  right  off.  Leave  the  bunk  house.  The  gen 
tlemen  won't  mind  your  sleeping  in  your  own 
house." 

Thus  he  dismissed  his  new  foreman  gayly.  But 
the  new  foreman,  when  he  got  outside,  turned  back 
for  one  gruff  word,  —  "  I'll  try  to  please  yu'."  That 
was  all.  He  was  gone  in  the  darkness.  But  there 
was  light  enough  for  me,  looking  after  him,  to  see 
him  lay  his  hand  on  a  shoulder-high  gate  and  vault 
it  as  if  he  had  been  the  wind.  Sounds  of  cheering 
came  to  us  a  few  moments  later  from  the  bunk 
house.  Evidently  he  had  "  begun  right  away,"  as 
the  Judge  had  directed.  He  had  told  his  fortune 
to  his  brother  cow-punchers,  and  this  was  their 
answer. 

"  I  wonder  if  Trampas  is  shouting  too  ?  "  in 
quired  Ogden. 

"  Hm!  "  said  the  Judge.  "  That  is  one  of  the 
particulars  I  wash  my  hands  of." 

I  knew  that  he  entirely  meant  it.  I  knew,  once 
his  decision  taken  of  appointing  the  Virginian  his 
lieutenant  for  good  and  all,  that,  like  a  wise  com- 
mander-in-chief,  he  would  trust  his  lieutenant  to 
take  care  of  his  own  business. 

"  Well,"  Ogden  pursued  with  interest,  "  haven't 
you  landed  Trampas  plump  at  his  mercy?  " 

The  phrase  tickled  the  Judge.  "  That  is  where 
I've  landed  him!  "  he  declared.  "  And  here  is  Dr. 
MacBride." 


XXI 

IN    A    STATE    OF    SIN 

THUNDER  sat  imminent  upon  the  missionary's 
brow.  Many  were  to  be  at  his  mercy  soon.  But 
for  us  he  had  sunshine  still.  "  I  am  truly  sorry  to 
be  turning  you  upside  down,"  he  said  importantly. 
"  But  it  seems  the  best  place  for  my  service."  He 
spoke  of  the  tables  pushed  back  and  the  chairs 
gathered  in  the  hall,  where  the  storm  would 
presently  break  upon  the  congregation.  "  Eight- 
thirty  ?  "  he  inquired. 

This  was  the  hour  appointed,  and  it  was  only 
twenty  minutes  off.  We  threw  the  unsmoked 
fractions  of  our  cigars  away,  and  returned  to  offer 
our  services  to  the  ladies.  This  amused  the 
ladies.  They  had  done  without  us.  All  was 
ready  in  the  hall. 

"  We  got  the  cook  to  help  us,"  Mrs.  Ogden 
told  me,  "so  as -not  to  disturb  your  cigars.  In 
spite  of  the  cow-boys,  I  still  recognize  my  own 
country." 

"  In  the  cook  ?  "  I  rather  densely  asked. 

"  Oh,  no !  I  don't  have  a  Chinaman.  It's  in  the 
length  of  after-dinner  cigars." 

"  Had  you  been  smoking,"  I  returned,  "  you 
would  have  found  them  short  this  evening." 

"  You  make  it  worse,"  said  the  lady ;  "  we  have 
had  nothing  but  Dr.  Mac  Bride." 

235 


236  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"We'll  share  him  with  you  now,"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Has  he  announced  his  text  ?  I've  got  one  for 
him,"  said  Molly  Wood,  joining  us.  She  stood 
on  tiptoe  and  spoke  it  comically  in  our  ears.  " '  I 
said  in  my  haste,  All  men  are  liars.' "  This  made 
us  merry  as  we  stood  among  the  chairs  in  the 
congested  hall. 

I  left  the  ladies,  and  sought  the  bunk  house. 
I  had  heard  the  cheers,  but  I  was  curious  also  to 
see  the  men,  and  how  they  were  taking  it.  There 
was  but  little  for  the  eye.  There  was  much  noise 
in  the  room.  They  were  getting  ready  to  come 
to  church,  —  brushing  their  hair,  shaving,  and 
making  themselves  clean,  amid  talk  occasionally 
profane  and  continuously  diverting. 

"  Well,  I'm  a  Christian,  anyway,"  one  declared. 

"  I'm  a  Mormon,  I  guess,"  said  another. 

"  I  belong  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias,"  said  a 
third. 

"  I'm  a  Mohammedist,"  said  a  fourth;  "  I  hope 
I  ain't  goin'  to  hear  nothin'  to  shock  me." 

And  they  went  on  with  their  joking.  But 
Trampas  was  out  of  the  joking.  He  lay  on  his 
bed  reading  a  newspaper,  and  took  no  pains  to 
look  pleasant.  My  eyes  were  "considering  him 
when  the  blithe  Scipio  came  in. 

"  Don't  look  so  bashful,"  said  he.  "  There's 
only  us  girls  here." 

He  had  been  helping  the  Virginian  move  his 
belongings  from  the  bunk  house  over  to  the  fore 
man's  cabin.  He  himself  was  to  occupy  the  Vir 
ginian's  old  bed  here.  "  And  I  hope  sleepin'  in 
it  will  bring  me  some  of  his  luck,"  said  Scipio. 
"  Yu'd  ought  to  've  seen  us  when  he  told  us  in 


IN  A  STATE   OF  SIN  237 

his  quiet  way.  Well,"  Scipio  sighed  a  little,  "it 
must  feel  good  to  have  your  friends  glad  about 
you." 

"  Especially  Trampas,"  said  I.  "  The  Judge 
knows  about  that,"  I  added. 

"Knows,  does  he?  What's  he  say?"  Scipio 
drew  me  quickly  out  of  the  bunk  house. 

"  Says  it's  no  business  of  his." 

"  Said  nothing  but  that  ?  "  Scipio's  curiosity 
seemed  strangely  intense.  "  Made  no  suggestion  ? 
Not  a  thing  ?  " 

"  Not  a  thing.  Said  he  didn't  want  to  know 
and  didn't  care." 

"  How  did  he  happen  to  hear  about  it  ?  "  snapped 
Scipio.  "  You  told  him  !  "  he  immediately  guessed. 
"  He  never  would."  And  Scipio  jerked  his  thumb 
at  the  Virginian,  who  appeared  for  a  moment  in 
the  lighted  window  of  the  new  quarters  he  was 
arranging.  "  He  never  would  tell,"  Scipio  re 
peated.  "  And  so  the  Judge  never  made  a  sug 
gestion  to  him,"  he  muttered,  nodding  in  the 
darkness.  "  So  it's  just  his  own  notion.  Just 
like  him,  too,  come  to  think  of  it.  Only  I  didn't 
expect  —  well,  I  guess  he  could  surprise  me  any 
day  he  tried." 

"  You're  surprising  me  now,"  I  said.  "  What's 
it  all  about  ? " 

"  Oh,  him  and  Trampas." 

"  What  ?  Nothing  surely  happened  yet  ?  "  I 
was  as  curious  as  Scipio  had  been. 

"  No,  not  yet.     But  there  will." 

"  Great  Heavens,  man  !  when  ?  " 

"Just  as  soon  as  Trampas  makes  the  first 
move,"  Scipio  replied  easily. 


238  THE   VIRGINIAN 

I  became  dignified.  Scipio  had  evidently  been 
told  things  by  the  Virginian. 

"  Yes,  I  up  and  asked  him  plumb  out,"  Scipio 
answered.  "  I  was  liftin'  his  trunk  in  at  the  door, 
and  I  couldn't  stand  it  no  longer,  and  I  asked  him 
plumb  out.  '  Yu've  sure  got  Trampas  where  yu' 
want  him.'  That's  what  I  said.  And  he  up  and 
answered  and  told  me.  So  I  know."  At  this 
point  Scipio  stopped ;  I  was  not  to  know. 

"  I  had  no  idea,"  I  said,  "  that  your  system  held 
so  much  meanness." 

"  Oh,  it  ain't  meanness ! "  And  he  laughed 
ecstatically. 

"  What  do  you  call  it,  then  ?  " 

"  He'd  call  it  discretion,"  said  Scipio.  Then  he 
became  serious.  "  It's  too  blamed  grand  to  tell 
yu'.  I'll  leave  yu'  to  see  it  happen.  Keep 
around,  that's  all.  Keep  around.  I  pretty  near 
wish  I  didn't  know  it  myself." 

What  with  my  feelings  at  Scipio's  discretion, 
and  my  human  curiosity,  I  was  not  in  that  mood 
which  best  profits  from  a  sermon.  Yet  even 
though  my  expectations  had  been  cruelly  left 
quivering  in  mid  air,  I  was  not  sure  how  much  I 
really  wanted  to  "  keep  around."  You  will  there 
fore  understand  how  Dr.  Mac  Bride  was  able  to 
make  a  prayer  and  to  read  Scripture  without  my 
being  cpnscious  of  a  word  that  he  had  uttered. 
It  was  when  I  saw  him  opening  the  manuscript 
of  his  sermon  that  I  suddenly  remembered  I  was 
sitting,  so  to  speak,  in  church,  and  began  once 
more  to  think  of  the  preacher  and  his  congrega 
tion.  Our  chairs  were  in  the  front  line,  of  course; 
but,  being  next  the  wall,  I  could  easily  see  the 


IN   A   STATE   OF   SIN  239 

cow-boys  behind  me.  They  were  perfectly  deco 
rous.  If  Mrs.  Ogden  had  looked  for  pistols,  dare 
devil  attitudes,  and  so  forth,  she  must  have  been 
greatly  disappointed.  Except  for  their  weather- 
beaten  cheeks  and  eyes,  they  were  simply  Ameri 
can  young  men  with  mustaches  and  without,  and 
might  have  been  sitting,  say,  in  Danbury,  Con 
necticut.  Even  Trampas  merged  quietly  with 
the  general  placidity.  The  Virginian  did  not,  to 
be  sure,  look  like  Danbury,  and  his  frame  and 
his  features  showed  out  of  the  mass;  but  his 
eyes  were  upon  Dr.  Mac  Bride  with  a  creamlike 
propriety. 

Our  missionary  did  not  choose  Miss  Wood's 
text.  He  made  his  selection  from  another  of 
the  Psalms ;  and  when  it  came,  I  did  not  dare 
to  look  at  anybody ;  I  was  much  nearer  unseemly 
conduct  than  the  cow-boys.  Dr.  Mac  Bride  gave 
us  his  text  sonorously,  " '  They  are  altogether 
become  filthy ;  There  is  none  of  them  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  one.' "  His  eye  showed  us  plainly 
that  present  company  was  not  excepted  from  this. 
He  repeated  the  text  once  more,  then,  launching 
upon  his  discourse,  gave  none  of  us  a  ray  of 
hope. 

I  had  heard  it  all  often  before ;  but  preached  to 
cow-boys  it  took  on  a  new  glare  of  untimeliness, 
of  grotesque  obsoleteness  —  as  if  some  one  should 
say,  "  Let  me  persuade  you  to  admire  woman," 
and  forthwith  hold  out  her  bleached  bones  to 
you.  The  cow-boys  were  told  that  not  only 
they  could  do  no  good,  but  that  if  they  did  con 
trive  to,  it  would  not  help  them.  Nay,  more: 
not  only  honest  deeds  availed  them  nothing,  but 


240  THE  VIRGINIAN 

even  if  they  accepted  this  especial  creed  which 
was  being  explained  to  them  as  necessary  for 
salvation,  still  it  might  not  save  them.  Their 
sin  was  indeed  the  cause  of  their  damnation,  yet, 
keeping  from  sin,  they  might  nevertheless  be 
lost.  It  had  all  been  settled  for  them  not  only 
before  they  were  born,  but  before  Adam  was 
shaped.  Having  told  them  this,  he  invited  them 
to  glorify  the  Creator  of  the  scheme.  Even  if 
damned,  they  must  praise  the  person  who  had 
made  them  expressly  for  damnation.  That  is 
what  I  heard  him  prove  by  logic  to  these  cow 
boys.  Stone  upon  stone  he  built  the  black  cellar 
of  his  theology,  leaving  out  its  beautiful  park  and 
the  sunshine  of  its  garden.  He  did  not  tell  them 
the,  splendor  of  its  past,  the  noble  fortress  for 
good  that  it  had  been,  how  its  tonic  had 
strengthened  generations  of  their  fathers.  No ; 
wrath  he  spoke  of,  and  never  once  of  love.  It 
was  the  bishop's  way,  I  knew  well,  to  hold 
cow-boys  by  homely  talk  of  their  special  hard 
ships  and  temptations.  And  when  they  fell  he 
spoke  to  them  of  forgiveness  and  brought 
them  encouragement.  But  Dr.  Mac  Bride  never 
thought  once  of  the  lives  of  these  waifs.  Like 
himself,  like  all  mankind,  they  were  invisible  dots 
in  creation ;  like  him,  they  were  to  feel  as  noth 
ing,  to  be  swept  up  in  the  potent  heat  of  his  faith. 
So  he  thrust  out  to  them  none  of  the  sweet  but 
all  the  bitter  of  his  creed,  naked  and  stern  as  iron. 
Dogma  was  his  all  in  all,  and  poor  humanity  was 
nothing  but  flesh  for  its  canons. 

Thus    to  kill   what  chance   he    had  for  being 
of   use  seemed  to  me   more   deplorable   than   it 


IN   A   STATE   OF   SIN 


241 


did  evidently  to  them.  Their  attention  merely 
wandered.  Three  hundred  years  ago  they  would 
have  been  frightened ;  but  not  in  this  electric  day. 
I  saw  Scipio  stifling  a  smile  when  it  came  to  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin.  "  We  know  of  its  truth," 
said  Dr.  Mac  Bride,  "from  the  severe  troubles  and 
distresses  to  which  infants  are  liable,  and  from 
death  passing  upon  them  before  they  are  capable 
of  sinning."  Yet  I  knew  he  was  a  good  man ; 
and  I  also  knew  that  if  a  missionary  is  to  be 
tactless,  he  might  almost  as  well  be  bad. 

I  said  their  attention  wandered,  but  I  forgot 
the  Virginian.  At  first  his  attitude  might  have 
been  mere  propriety.  One  can  look  respectfully 
at  a  preacher  and  be  internally  breaking  all  the 
commandments.  But  even  with  the  text  I  saw 
real  attention  light  in  the  Virginian's  eye.  And 
keeping  track  of  the  concentration  that  grew  on 
him  with  each  minute  made  the  sermon  short 
for  me.  He  missed  nothing.  Before  the  end 
his  gaze  at  the  preacher  had  become  swerveless. 
Was  he  convert  or  critic  ?  Convert  was  incredi 
ble.  Thus  was  an  hour  passed  before  I  had 
thought  of  time. 

When  it  was  over  we  took  it  variously.  The 
preacher  was  genial  and  spoke  of  having  now 
broken  ground  for  the  lessons  that  he  hoped  to 
instil.  He  discoursed  for  a  while  about  trout- 
fishing  and  about  the  rumored  uneasiness  of 
the  Indians  northward  where  he  was  going  It 
was  plain  that  his  personal  safety  never  gave  him 
a  thought.  He  soon  bade  us  good  night.  The 
Ogdens  shrugged  their  shoulders  and  were 
amused.  That  was  their  way  of  taking  it. 


242  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Dr.  Mac  Bride  sat  too  heavily  on  the  Judge's 
shoulders  for  him  to  shrug  them.  As  a  leading 
citizen  in  the  Territory  he  kept  open  house  for 
all  comers.  Policy  and  good  nature  made  him 
bid  welcome  a  wide  variety  of  travellers.  The 
cow-boy  out  of  employment  found  bed  and  a 
meal  for  himself  and  his  horse,  and  missionaries 
had  before  now  been  well  received  at  Sunk  Creek 
Ranch. 

"  I  suppose  I'll  have  to  take  him  fishing,"  said 
the  Judge,  ruefully. 

"  Yes,  my  dear,"  said  his  wife,  "  you  will.  And 
I  shall  have  to  make  his  tea  for  six  days." 

"  Otherwise,"  Ogden  suggested,  "  it  might  be 
reported  that  you  were  enemies  of  religion." 

"  That's  about  it,"  said  the  Judge.  "  I  can  get 
on  with  most  people.  But  elephants  depress 


me." 


So  we  named  the  Doctor  "  Jumbo,"  and  I  de 
parted  to  my  quarters. 

At  the  bunk  house,  the  comments  were  similar 
but  more  highly  salted.  The  men  were  going  to 
bed.  In  spite  of  their  outward  decorum  at  the 
service,  they  had  not  liked  to  be  told  that  they 
were  "altogether  become  filthy."  It  was  easy  to 
call  names ;  they  could  do  that  themselves.  And 
they  appealed  to  me,  several  speaking  at  once,  like 
a  concerted  piece  at  the  opera :  "  Say,  do  you  be 
lieve  babies  go  to  hell  ?  "  —  "  Ah,  of  course  he 
don't."  —  "  There  ain't  no  hereafter,  anyway."  • 
"  Ain't  there  ?  "  —  "  Who  told  y u'  ?  "  —  "  Same  man 
as  told  the  preacher  we  were  all  a  sifted  set  of 
sons-of-guns."  —  "Well,  I'm  going  to  stay  a  Mor 
mon." —  "Well,  I'm  going  to  quit  fleeing  from 


IN   A   STATE   OF   SIN  243 

temptation."  — "That's  so!  Better  get  it  in  the 
neck  after  a  good  time  than  a  poor  one."  And 
so  forth.  Their  wit  was  not  extreme,  yet  I  should 
like  Dr.  Mac  Bride  to  have  heard  it.  One  fellow 
put  his  natural  soul  pretty  well  into  words,  "  If 
I  happened  to  learn  what  they  had  predestinated 
me  to  do,  I'd  do  the  other  thing,  just  to  show  'em  !  " 

And  Trampas  ?  And  the  Virginian  ?  They 
were  out  of  it.  The  Virginian  had  gone  straight 
to  his  new  abode.  Trampas  lay  in  his  bed,  not 
asleep,  and  sullen  as  ever. 

"  He  'ain't  got  religion  this  trip,"  said  Scipio  to 
me. 

"  Did  his  new  foreman  get  it  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Huh  !  It  would  spoil  him.  You  keep  around 
that's  all.  Keep  around." 

Scipio  was  not  to  be  probed ;  and  I  went,  still 
baffled,  to  my  repose. 

No  light  burned  in  the  cabin  as  I  approached 
its  door. 

The  Virginian's  room  was  quiet  and  dark ;  and 
that  Dr.  MacBride  slumbered  was  plainly  audible 
to  me,  even  before  I  entered.  Go  fishing  with 
him !  I  thought,  as  I  undressed.  And  I  selfishly 
decided  that  the  Judge  might  have  this  privilege 
entirely  to  himself.  Sleep  came  to  me  fairly  soon, 
in  spite  of  the  Doctor.  I  was  wakened  from  it  by 
my  bed's  being  jolted  —  not  a  pleasant  thing  that 
night.  I  must  have  started.  And  it  was  the 
quiet  voice  of  the  Virginian  that  told  me  he  was 
sorry  to  have  accidentally  disturbed  me.  This 
disturbed  me  a  good  deal  more.  But  his  steps 
did  not  go  to  the  bunk  house,  as  my  sensational 
mind  had  suggested.  He  was  not  wearing  much, 


244  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  in  the  dimness  he  seemed  taller  than  common. 
I  next  made  out  that  he  was  bending  over  Dr. 
Mac  Bride.  The  divine  at  last  sprang  upright. 

"  I  am  armed,"  he  said.  "  Take  care.  Who  are 
you  ? " 

"  You  can  lay  down  your  gun,  seh.  I  feel  like 
my  spirit  was  going  to  bear  witness.  I  feel  like  I 
might  get  an  enlightening." 

He  was  using  some  of  the  missionary's  own 
language.  The  baffling  I  had  been  treated  to  by 
Scipio  melted  to  nothing  in  this.  Did  living  men 
petrify,  I  should  have  changed  to  mineral  be 
tween  the  sheets.  The  Doctor  got  out  of  bed, 
lighted  his  lamp,  and  found  a  book ;  and  the  two 
retired  into  the  Virginian's  room,  where  I  could 
hear  the  exhortations  as  I  lay  amazed.  In  time 
the  Doctor  returned,  blew  out  his  lamp,  and  set 
tled  himself.  I  had  been  very  much  awake,  but 
was  nearly  gone  to  sleep  again,  when  the  door 
creaked  and  the  Virginian  stood  by  the  Doctor's 
side. 

"  Are  you  awake,  seh  ?  " 

"  What  ?     What's  that  ?     What  is  it  ?  " 

"  Excuse  me,  seh.  The  enemy  is  winning  on 
me.  I'm  feeling  less  inward  opposition  to  sin." 

The  lamp  was  lighted,  and  I  listened  to  some 
further  exhortations.  They  must  have  taken  half 
an  hour.  When  the  Doctor  was  in  bed  again,  I 
thought  that  I  heard  him  sigh.  This  upset  my 
composure  in  the  dark ;  but  I  lay  face  downward 
in  the  pillow,  and  the  Doctor  was  soon  again 
snoring.  I  envied  him  for  a  while  his  faculty  of 
easy  sleep.  But  I  must  have  dropped  off  myself ; 
for  it  was  the  lamp  in  my  eyes  that  now  waked 


IN   A   STATE   OF   SIN  245 

me  as  he  came  back  for  the  third  time  from  the 
Virginian's  room.  Before  blowing  the  light  out 
he  looked  at  his  watch,  and  thereupon  I  inquired 
the  hour  of  him. 

"  Three,"  said  he. 

I  could  not  sleep  any  more  now,  and  I  lay 
watching  the  darkness. 

"  I'm  afeared  to  be  alone !"  said  the  Virginian's 
voice  presently  in  the  next  room.  "  I'm  afeared." 
There  was  a  short  pause,  and  then  he  shouted 
very  loud, "  I'm  losin'  my  desire  afteh  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  Word  !  " 

"What?  What's  that?  What?"  The  Doc 
tor's  cot  gave  a  great  crack  as  he  started  up  lis 
tening,  and  I  put  my  face  deep  in  the  pillow. 

"  I'm  afeared  !  I'm  afeared  !  Sin  has  quit  being 
bitter  in  my  belly." 

"  Courage,  my  good  man."  The  Doctor  was 
out  of  bed  with  his  lamp  again,  and  the  door 
shut  behind  him.  Between  them  they  made  it 
long  this  time.  I  saw  the  window  become  gray  ; 
then  the  corners  of  the  furniture  grow  visible ; 
and  outside,  the  dry  chorus  of  the  blackbirds 
began  to  fill  the  dawn.  To  these  the  sounds  of 
chickens  and  impatient  hoofs  in  the  stable  were 
added,  and  some  cow  wandered  by  loudly  calling 
for  her  calf.  Next,  some  one  whistling  passed 
near  and  grew  distant.  But  although  the  cold 
hue  that  I  lay  staring  at  through  the  window 
warmed  and  changed,  the  Doctor  continued  work 
ing  hard  over  his  patient  in  the  next  room.  Only 
a  word  here  and  there  was  distinct;  but  it  was 
plain  from  the  Virginian's  fewer  remarks  that  the 
sin  in  his  belly  was  alarming  him  less.  Yes,  they 


246  THE   VIRGINIAN 

made  this  time  long.  But  it  proved,  indeed,  the 
last  one.  And  though  some  sort  of  catastrophe 
was  bound  to  fall  upon  us,  it  was  myself  who  pre 
cipitated  the  thing  that  did  happen. 

Day  was  wholly  come.  I  looked  at  my  own 
watch,  and  it  was  six.  I  had  been  about  seven 
hours  in  my  bed,  and  the  Doctor  had  been  about 
seven  hours  out  of  his.  The  door  opened,  and  he 
came  in  with  his  book  and  lamp.  He  seemed  to 
be  shivering  a  little,  and  I  saw  him  cast  a  long 
ing  eye  at  his  couch.  But  the  Virginian  followed 
him  even  as  he  blew  out  the  now  quite  superfluous 
light.  They  made  a  noticeable  couple  in  their 
underclothes:  the  Virginian  with  his  lean  race 
horse  shanks  running  to  a  point  at  his  ankle,  and 
the  Doctor  with  his  stomach  and  his  fat  sedentary 
calves. 

"  You'll  be  going  to  breakfast  and  the  ladies, 
seh,  pretty  soon,"  said  the  Virginian,  with  a  chas 
tened  voice.  "  But  I'll  worry  through  the  day 
somehow  without  yu'.  And  to-night  you  can  turn 
your  wolf  loose  on  me  again." 

Once  more  it  was  no  use.  My  face  was  deep 
in  the  pillow,  but  I  made  sounds  as  of  a  hen  who 
has  laid  an  egg.  It  broke  on  the  Doctor  with  a 
total  instantaneous  smash,  quite  like  an  egg. 

He  tried  to  speak  calmly.  "  This  is  a  disgrace. 
An  infamous  disgrace.  Never  in  my  life  have 
I  — "  Words  forsook  him,  and  his  face  grew 
redder.  "Never  in  my  life  — "  He  stopped 
again,  because,  at  the  sight  of  him  being  dignified 
in  his  red  drawers,  I  was  making  the  noise  of  a 
dozen  hens.  It  was  suddenly  too  much  for  the 
Virginian.  He  hastened  into  his  room,  and  there 


IN   A  STATE   OF   SIN  247 

sank  on  the  floor  with  his  head  in  his  hands. 
The  Doctor  immediately  slammed  the  door  upon 
him,  and  this  rendered  me  easily  fit  for  a  lunatic 
asylum.  I  cried  into  my  pillow,  and  wondered  if 
the  Doctor  would  come  and  kill  me.  But  he  took 
no  notice  of  me  whatever.  I  could  hear  the  Vir 
ginian's  convulsions  through  the  door,  and  also 
the  Doctor  furiously  making  his  toilet  within 
three  feet  of  my  head ;  and  I  lay  quite  still  with 
my  face  the  other  way,  for  I  was  really  afraid  to 
look  at  him.  When  I  heard  him  walk  to  the  door 
in  his  boots,  I  ventured  to  peep ;  and  there  he 
was,  going  out  with  his  bag  in  his  hand.  As  I 
still  continued  to  lie,  weak  and  sore,  and  with  a 
mind  that  had  ceased  all  operation,  the  Virginian's 
door  opened.  He  was  clean  and  dressed  and 
decent,  but  the  devil  still  sported  in  his  eye.  I 
have  never  seen  a  creature  more  irresistibly  hand 
some. 

Then  my  mind  worked  again.  "  You've  gone 
and  done  it,"  said  I.  "  He's  packed  his  valise. 
He'll  not  sleep  here." 

The  Virginian  looked  quickly  out  of  the  door. 
"  Why,  he's  leavin'  us  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Drivin' 
away  right  now  in  his  little  old  buggy ! "  He 
turned  to  me,  and  our  eyes  met  solemnly  over  this 
large  fact.  I  thought  that  I  perceived  the  faint 
est  tincture  of  dismay  in  the  features  of  Judge 
Henry's  new,  responsible,  trusty  foreman.  This 
was  the  first  act  of  his  administration.  Once 
again  he  looked  out  at  the  departing  missionary. 
"  Well,"  he  vindictively  stated,  "  I  cert'nly  ain't 
goin'  to  run  afteh  him."  And  he  looked  at  me 
again. 


248  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Do  you  suppose  the  Judge  knows  ? "  I 
inquired. 

He  shook  his  head.  "  The  windo'  shades  is  all 
down  still  oveh  yondeh."  He  paused.  "  I  don't 
care,"  he  stated,  quite  as  if  he  had  been  ten  years 
old.  Then  he  grinned  guiltily.  "  I  was  mighty 
respectful  to  him  all  night." 

"  Oh,  yes,  respectful !  Especially  when  you 
invited  him  to  turn  his  wolf  loose." 

The  Virginian  gave  a  joyous  gulp.  He  now 
came  and  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  my  bed.  "  I 
spoke  awful  good  English  to  him  most  of  the 
time,"  said  he.  "  I  can,  yu'  know,  when  I  cinch 
my  attention  tight  on  to  it.  Yes,  I  cert'nly  spoke 
a  lot  o'  good  English.  I  didn't  understand  some 
of  it  myself  !  " 

He  was  now  growing  frankly  pleased  with  his 
exploit.  He  had  builded  so  much  better  than  he 
knew.  He  got  up  and  looked  out  across  the 
crystal  world  of  light.  "  The  Doctor  is  at  one- 
mile  crossing,"  he  said.  "  He'll  get  breakfast  at 
the  N-lazy-Y."  Then  he  returned  and  sat  again 
on  my  bed,  and  began  to  give  me  his  real  heart. 
"  I  never  set  up  for  being  better  than  others.  Not 
even  to  myself.  My  thoughts  ain't  apt  to  travel 
around  making  comparisons.  And  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  my  memory  took  as  much  notice  of  the 
meannesses  I  have  done  as  of  —  as  of  the  othei 
actions.  But  to  have  to  sit  like  a  dumb  lamb  and 
let  a  stranger  tell  yu'  for  an  hour  that  yu're 
a  hawg  and  a  swine,  just  after  you  have  acted  i] 
a  way  which  them  that  know  the  facts  would  call 
pretty  near  white  —  " 

"  Trampas ! "    I    could    not    help    exclaiming. 


IN   A  STATE   OF   SIN  249 

For  there  are  moments  of  insight  when  a  guess 
amounts  to  knowledge. 

"Has  Scipio  told  —  " 

"  No.     Not  a  word.     He  wouldn't  tell  me." 

"  Well,  yu'  see,  I  arrived  home  hyeh  this  even- 
in'  with  several  thoughts  workin'  and  stirrin' 
inside  me.  And  not  one  o'  them  thoughts  was 
what  yu'd  call  Christian.  I  ain't  the  least  little 
bit  ashamed  of  'em.  I'm  a  human.  But  after  the 
Judge  —  well,  yu'  heard  him.  And  so  when  I 
went  away  from  that  talk  and  saw  how  positions 
wa^  changed  —  " 

A  step  outside  stopped  him  short.  Nothing 
more  could  be  read  in  his  face,  for  there  was 
Trampas  himself  in  the  open  door. 

"  Good  morning,"  said  Trampas,  not  looking  at 
us.  He  spoke  with  the  same  cool  sullenness  of 
yesterday. 

We  returned  his  greeting. 

"  I  believe  I'm  late  in  congratulating  you  on 
your  promotion,"  said  he. 

The  Virginian  consulted  his  watch.  "  It's  only 
half  afteh  six,"  he  returned. 

Trampas's  sullenness  deepened.  "  Any  man  is 
to  be  congratulated  on  getting  a  rise,  I  expect." 

This  time  the  Virginian  let  him  have  it.  "  Cer- 
t'nly.  And  I  ain't  forgetting  how  much  I  owe 
mine  to  you." 

Trampas  would  have  liked  to  let  himself  go. 
"  I've  not  come  here  for  any  forgiveness,"  he 
sneered. 

;'  When  did  yu'  feel  yu'  needed  any  ?  "  The 
Virginian  was  impregnable. 

Trampas  seemed  to  feel  how  little  he  was  gain- 


250  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ing  this  way.  He  came  out  straight  now.  "  Oh, 
I  haven't  any  Judge  behind  me,  I  know.  I  heard 
you'd  be  paying  the  boys  this  morning,  and  I've 
come  for  my  time." 

"You're  thinking  of  leaving  us?"  asked  the 
new  foreman.  "  What's  your  dissatisfaction  ?  " 

"Oh,  I'm  not  needing  anybody  back  of  me. 
I'll  get  along  by  myself."  It  was  thus  he  revealed 
his  expectation  of  being  dismissed  by  his  enemy. 

This  would  have  knocked  any  meditated  gener 
osity  out  of  my  heart.  But  I  was  not  the  Vir 
ginian.  He  shifted  his  legs,  leaned  back  a  little, 
and  laughed.  "  Go  back  to  your  job,  Trampas,  if 
that's  all  your  complaint.  You're  right  about  me 
being  in  luck.  But  maybe  there's  two  of  us  in 
luck." 

It  was  this  that  Scipio  had  preferred  me  to  see 
with  my  own  eyes.  The  fight  was  between  man 
and  man  no  longer.  The  case  could  not  be  one 
of  forgiveness ;  but  the  Virginian  would  not  use 
his  official  position  to  crush  his  subordinate. 

Trampas  departed  with  something  muttered 
that  I  did  not  hear,  and  the  Virginian  closed 
intimate  conversation  by  saying,  "  You'll  be  late 
for  breakfast."  With  that  he  also  took  himself 
away. 

The  ladies  were  inclined  to  be  scandalized,  but 
not  the  Judge.  When  my  whole  story  was  done, 
he  brought  his  fist  down  on  the  table,  and  not 
lightly  this  time.  "  I'd  make  him  lieutenant- 
general  if  the  ranch  offered  that  position ! "  he 
declared. 

Miss  Molly  Wood  said  nothing  at  the  time. 
But  in  the  afternoon,  by  her  wish,  she  went  fish- 


IN   A   STATE   OF   SIN  251 

ing,  with  the  Virginian  deputed  to  escort  her.  I 
rode  with  them,  for  a  while.  I  was  not  going 
to  continue  a  third  in  that  party;  the  Virginian 
was  too  becomingly  dressed,  and  I  saw  Kenil- 
worth  peeping  out  of  his  pocket.  I  meant  to  be 
fishing  by  myself  when  that  volume  was  returned. 

But  Miss  Wood  talked  with  skilful  openness  as 
we  rode.  "  I've  heard  all  about  you  and  Dr.  Mac- 
Bride,"  she  said.  "  How  could  you  do  it,  when 
the  Judge  places  such  confidence  in  you  ? " 

He  looked  pleased.  "  I  reckon,"  he  said,  "  I 
couldn't  be  so  good  if  I  wasn't  bad  onced  in  a 
while." 

"Why,  there's  a  skunk,"  said  I,  noticing  the 
pretty  little  animal  trotting  in  front  of  us  at  the 
edge  of  the  thickets. 

"Oh,  where  is  it?  Don't  let  me  see  it!" 
screamed  Molly.  And  at  this  deeply  feminine 
remark,  the  Virginian  looked  at  her  with  such  a 
smile  that,  had  I  been  a  woman,  it  would  have 
made  me  his  to  do  what  he  pleased  with  on  the 
spot. 

Upon  the  lady,  however,  it  seemed  to  make 
less  impression.  Or  rather,  I  had  better  say, 
whatever  were  her  feelings,  she  very  naturally 
made  no  display  of  them,  and  contrived  not  to 
be  aware  of  that  expression  which  had  passed 
over  the  Virginian's  face. 

It  was  later  that  these  few  words  reached  me 
while  I  was  fishing  alone :  — 

"  Have  you  anything  different  to  tell  me  yet  ? " 
I  heard  him  say. 

I  "Yes;  I  have."  She  spoke  in  accents  light 
and  well  intrenched.  "  I  wish  to  say  that  I  have 


252 


THE  VIRGINIAN 


never  liked  any  man  better  than  you.  But  I 
expect  to ! " 

He  must  have  drawn  small  comfort  from  such 
an  answer  as  that.  But  he  laughed  out  indomi 
tably:— 

"  Don't  yu'  go  betting  on  any  such  expectation  ! " 
And  then  their  words  ceased  to  be  distinct,  and 
it  was  only  their  two  voices  that  I  heard  wander 
ing  among  the  windings  of  the  stream. 


XXII 

"  WHAT    IS    A    RUSTLER  ?  " 

WE  all  know  what  birds  of  a  feather  do.  And 
it  may  be  safely  surmised  that  if  a  bird  of  any 
particular  feather  has  been  for  a  long  while  un 
able  to  see  other  birds  of  its  kind,  it  will  flock 
with  them  all  the  more  assiduously  when  they 
happen  to  alight  in  its  vicinity. 

Now  the  Ogdens  were  birds  of  Molly's  feather. 
They  wore  Eastern,  and  not  Western,  plumage, 
and  their  song  was  a  different  song  from  that 
which  the  Bear  Creek  birds  sang.  To  be  sure, 
the  piping  of  little  George  Taylor  was  full  of 
hopeful  interest;  and  many  other  strains,  both 
striking  and  melodious,  were  lifted  in  Cattle  Land, 
and  had  given  pleasure  to  Molly's  ear.  But 
although  Indians,  and  bears,  and  mavericks,  make 
worthy  themes  for  song,  these  are  not  the  only 
songs  in  the  world.  Therefore  the  Eastern  war- 
blings  of  the  Ogdens  sounded  doubly  sweet  to 
Molly  Wood.  Such  words  as  Newport,  Bar 
Harbor,  and  Tiffany's  thrilled  her  exceedingly. 
It  made  no  difference  that  she  herself  had  never 
been  to  Newport  or  Bar  Harbor,  and  had  visited 
Tiffany's  more  often  to  admire  than  to  purchase. 
On  the  contrary,  this  rather  added  a  dazzle  to 
the  music  of  the  Ogdens.  And  Molly,  whose 
Eastern  song  had  been  silent  in  this  strange 

253 


254  THE  VIRGINIAN 

land,  began   to  chirp    it  again  during  the  visit 
that  she  made  at  the  Sunk  Creek  Ranch. 

Thus  the  Virginian's  cause  by  no  means  pros 
pered  at  this  time.  His  forces  were  scattered, 
while  Molly's  were  concentrated.  The  girl  was 
not  at  that  point  where  absence  makes  the  heart 
grow  fonder.  While  the  Virginian  was  trun 
dling,  his  long,  responsible  miles  in  the  caboose, 
delivering  the  cattle  at  Chicago,  vanquishing 
Trampas  along  the  Yellowstone,  she  had  regained 
herself. 

Thus  it  was  that  she  could  tell  him  so  easily 
during  those  first  hours  that  they  were  alone 
after  his  return,  "  I  expect  to  like  another  man 
better  than  you." 

Absence   had    recruited  her.       And  then  the 
Ogdens  had  reenforced  her.     They  brought  the 
East  back  powerfully  to  her   memory,  and  her 
thoughts  filled  with  it.     They  did  not  dream  that 
they  were  assisting  in  any  battle.     No  one  ever 
had  more  unconscious  allies  than   did   Molly  at 
that  time.      But  she  used  them  consciously,  or 
almost  consciously.      She  frequented  them ;  she 
spoke  of   Eastern  matters ;    she  found   that    she 
had  acquaintances  whom  the  Ogdens  also  knew, 
and  she  often  brought  them  into  the  conversation. 
For  it  may  be  said,  I  think,  that  she  was  fight 
ing  a  battle  —  nay,  a  campaign.    And  perhaps  this 
was  a  hopeful   sign  for  the   Virginian   (had  he 
but  known    it),  that   the  girl   resorted  to    allies 
She  surrounded  herself,  she  steeped  herself,  wit] 
the  East,  to  have,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  counter- 
actant  against  the  spell  of  the  black-haired  horse 
man. 


"WHAT   IS   A   RUSTLER?"  255 

And  his  forces  were,  as  I  have  said,  scattered. 
For  his  promotion  gave  him  no  more  time  for 
love-making.  He  was  foreman  now.  He  had 
said  to  Judge  Henry,  "  I'll  try  to  please  yu'." 
And  after  the  throb  of  emotion  which  these 
words  had  both  concealed  and  conveyed,  there 
came  to  him  that  sort  of  intention  to  win  which 
amounts  to  a  certainty.  Yes,  he  would  please 
Judge  Henry ! 

He  did  not  know  how  much  he  had  already 
pleased  him.  He  did  not  know  that  the  Judge 
was  humorously  undecided  which  of  his  new  fore 
man's  first  acts  had  the  more  delighted  him : 
his  performance  with  the  missionary,  or  his  mag 
nanimity  to  Trampas. 

"  Good  feeling  is  a  great  thing  in  any  one,"  the 
Judge  would  say ;  "  but  I  like  to  know  that  my 
foreman  has  so  much  sense." 

"  I  am  personally  very  grateful  to  him,"  said 
Mrs.  Henry. 

And  indeed  so  was  the  whole  company.  To  be 
afflicted  with  Dr.  Mac  Bride  for  one  night  instead 
of  six  was  a  great  liberation. 

But  the  Virginian  never  saw  his  sweetheart 
alone  again ;  while  she  was  at  the  Sunk  Creek 
Ranch,  his  duties  called  him  away  so  much  that 
there  was  no  chance  for  him.  Worse  still,  that 
habit  of  birds  of  a  feather  brought  about  a  separa 
tion  more  considerable.  She  arranged  to  go  East 
with  the  Ogdens.  It  was  so  good  an  opportu 
nity  to  travel  with  friends,  instead  of  making  the 
journey  alone ! 

Molly's  term  of  ministration  at  the  schoolhouse 
had  so  pleased  Bear  Creek  that  she  was  warmly 


256  THE  VIRGINIAN 

urged  to  take  a  holiday.     School  could  afford  to 
begin  a  little  late.     Accordingly,  she  departed. 

The  Virginian  hid  his  sore  heart  from  her  dur 
ing  the  moment  of  farewell  that  they  had. 

"  No,  I'll  not  want  any  more  books,"  he  said, 
"  till  yu'  come  back."  And  then  he  made  cheer 
fulness.  "  It's  just  the  other  way  round ! "  said 
he. 

"  What  is  the  other  way  round  ?  " 

"  Why,  last  time  it  was  me  that  went  travelling, 
and  you  that  stayed  behind." 

"  So  it  was !  "  And  here  she  gave  him  a  last 
scratch.  "  But  you'll  be  busier  than  ever,"  she 
said ;  "  no  spare  time  to  grieve  about  me  !  " 

She  could  wound  him,  and  she  knew  it.  Nobody 
else  could.  That  is  why  she  did  it. 

But  he  gave  her  something  to  remember,  too. 

"  Next  time,"  he  said,  "  neither  of  us  will  stay 
behind.  We'll  both  go  together." 

And  with  these  words  he  gave  her  no  laughing 
glance.       It  was   a  look  that  mingled  with   the 
words ;  so  that  now  and  again  in  the  train,  both 
came  back  to  her,  and  she  sat  pensive,  drawing 
near   to    Bennington   and  hearing  his  voice  an< 
seeing  his  eyes. 

How  is  it  that  this  girl  could  cry  at  having  to 
tell  Sam  Bannett  she  could  not  think  of  him,  and 
then  treat  another  lover  as  she  treated  the  Vir 
ginian  ?  I  cannot  tell  you,  having  never  (as  I 
said  before)  been  a  woman  myself. 

Bennington  opened  its  arms  to  its  venturesom< 
daughter.  Much  was  made  of  Molly  Wood.  Ol< 
faces  and  old  places  welcomed  her.  Fatted  calves 
of  varying  dimensions  made  their  appearance 


"WHAT   IS   A   RUSTLER?"  257 

And  although  the  fatted  calf  is  an  animal  that 
can  assume  more  divergent  shapes  than  any 
other  known  creature,  —  being  sometimes  cham 
pagne  and  partridges,  and  again  cake  and  currant 
wine,  —  through  each  disguise  you  can  always 
identify  the  same  calf.  The  girl  from  Bear 
Creek  met  it  at  every  turn. 

The  Bannetts  at  Hoosic  Falls  offered  a  large 
specimen  to  Molly  —  a  dinner  (perhaps  I  should 
say  a  banquet)  of  twenty-four.  And  Sam  Bannett 
of  course  took  her  to  drive  more  than  once. 

"  I  want  to  see  the  Hoosic  Bridge,"  she  would 
say.  And  when  they  reached  that  well-remem 
bered  point,  "  How  lovely  it  is ! "  she  exclaimed. 
And  as  she  gazed  at  the  view  up  and  down  the 
valley,  she  would  grow  pensive.  "  How  natural 
the  church  looks,"  she  continued.  And  then, 
having  crossed  both  bridges,  "  Oh,  there's  the 
dear  old  lodge  gate ! "  Or  again,  while  they 
drove  up  the  valley  of  the  little  Hoosic :  "  I  had 
forgotten  it  was  so  nice  and  lonely.  But  after 
all,  no  woods  are  so  interesting  as  those  where 
you  might  possibly  see  a  bear  or  an  elk."  And 
upon  another  occasion,  after  a  cry  of  enthusiasm 
at  the  view  from  the  top  of  Mount  Anthony, 
"  It's  lovely,  lovely,  lovely,"  she  said,  with  dimin 
ishing  cadence,  ending  in  pensiveness  once  more. 
"  Do  you  see  that  little  bit  just  there  ?  No,  not 
where  the  trees  are  —  that  bare  spot  that  looks 
brown  and  warm  in  the  sun.  With  a  little  sage 
brush,  that  spot  would  look  something  like  a  place 
I  know  on  Bear  Creek.  Only  of  course  you  don't 
get  the  clear  air  here." 

"  I  don't  forget  you,"  said  Sam.     "  Do  you  re- 


258  THE   VIRGINIAN 

member  me?  Or  is  it  out  of  sight  out  of 
mind  ? " 

And  with  this  beginning  he  renewed  his  suit. 
She  told  him  that  she  forgot  no  one ;  that  she 
should  return  always,  lest  they  might  forget  her. 

"  Return  always  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  talk 
as  if  your  anchor  was  dragging." 

Was  it  ?     At  all  events,  Sam  failed  in  his  suit. 

Over  in  the  house  at  Dunbarton,  the  old  lady 
held  Molly's  hand  and  looked  a  long  while  at  her. 
"  You  have  changed  very  much,"  she  said  finally. 

"  I  am  a  year  older,"  said  the  girl. 

"  Pshaw,  my  dear !  "  said  the  great-aunt.  "  Who 
is  he?" 

"  Nobody !  "  cried  Molly,  with  indignation. 

"  Then  you  shouldn't  answer  so  loud,"  said  the 
great-aunt. 

The  girl  suddenly  hid  her  face.  "  I  don't  be 
lieve  I  can  love  any  one,"  she  said,  "  except  my 
self." 

And  then  that  old  lady,  who  in  her  day  had 
made  her  courtesy  to  Lafayette,  began  to  stroke 
her  niece's  buried  head,  because  she  more  than 
half  understood.  And  understanding  thus  much, 
she  asked  no  prying  questions,  but  thought  of  the 
days  of  her  own  youth,  and  only  spoke  a  little 
quiet  love  and  confidence  to  Molly. 

"  I  am  an  old,  old  woman,"  she  said.  "  But  I 
haven't  forgotten  about  it.  They  objected  to 
him  because  he  had  no  fortune.  But  he  was 
brave  and  handsome,  and  I  loved  him,  my  dear. 
Only  I  ought  to  have  loved  him  more.  I  gave 
him  my  promise  to  think  about  it.  And  he  and 
his  ship  were  lost."  The  great-aunt's  voice  had 


I 


"WHAT   IS  A   RUSTLER?"  259 

become  very  soft  and  low,  and  she  spoke  with 
many  pauses.  "  So  then  I  knew.  If  I  had  —  if 
—  perhaps  I  should  have  lost  him;  but  it  would 
have  been  after  —  ah,  well !  So  long  as  you  can 
help  it,  never  marry !  But  when  you  cannot  help 
it  a  moment  longer,  then  listen  to  nothing  but 
that;  for,  my  dear,  I  know  your  choice  would 
be  worthy  of  the  Starks.  And  now  —  let  me  see 
his  picture." 

"  Why,  aunty  !  "  said  Molly. 

"  Well,  I  won't  pretend  to  be  supernatural," 
said  the  aunt,  "  but  I  thought  you  kept  one  back 
when  you  were  showing  ns  those  Western  views 
last  night." 

Now  this  was  the  precise  truth.  Molly  had 
brought  a  number  of  photographs  from  Wyoming 
to  show  to  her  friends  at  home.  These,  however, 
with  one  exception,  were  not  portraits.  They 
were  views  of  scenery  and  of  cattle  round-ups, 
and  other  scenes  characteristic  of  ranch  life.  Of 
young  men  she  had  in  her  possession  several 
photographs,  and  all  but  one  of  these  she  had 
left  behind  her.  Her  aunt's  penetration  had  in 
a  way  mesmerized  the  girl ;  she  rose  obediently 
and  sought  that  picture  of  the  Virginian.  It  was 
full  length,  displaying  him  in  all  his  cow-boy 
trappings,  —  the  leathern  chaps,  the  belt  and 
pistol,  and  in  his  hand  a  coil  of  rope. 

Not  one  of  her  family  had  seen  it,  or  suspected 
its  existence.  She  now  brought  it  downstairs 
and  placed  it  in  her  aunt's  hand. 

"  Mercy !  "  cried  the  old  lady. 

Molly  was  silent,  but  her  eye  grew  warlike. 

"  Is  that  the  way —  "  began  the  aunt    "  Mercy ! " 


260  THE  VIRGINIAN 

she  murmured ;    and  she  sat  staring  at  the  pic 
ture. 

Molly  remained  silent. 

Her  aunt  looked  slowly  up  at  her.  "  Has  a 
man  like  that  presumed  —  " 

"  He's  not  a  bit  like  that.  Yes,  he's  exactly 
like  that,"  said  Molly.  And  she  would  have 
snatched  the  photograph  away,  but  her  aunt  re 
tained  it. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  I  suppose  there  are  days 
when  he  does  not  kill  people." 

"He  never  killed  anybody!"  And  Molly 
laughed. 

"  Are  you  seriously  —  "  said  the  old  lady. 

"  I  almost  might  —  at  times.  He  is  perfectly 
splendid/' 

"  My  dear,  you  have  fallen  in  love  with  his 
clothes." 

"  It's  not  his  clothes.      And    I'm  not  in  love. 
He  often  wears  others.     He  wears  a  white  coll; 
like  anybody." 

"  Then  that  would  be  a  more  suitable  way  to 
be  photographed,  I  think.  He  couldn't  go  round 
like  that  here.  I  could  not  receive  him  myself." 

"  He'd  never  think  of  such  a  thing.  Why,  you 
talk  as  if  he  were  a  savage." 

The  old  lady  studied  the  picture  closely  for  a 
minute.  "  I  think  it  is  a  good  face,"  she  finally 
remarked.  "  Is  the  fellow  as  handsome  as  that, 
my  dear  ?  " 

More  so,  Molly  thought.  And  who  was  he, 
and  what  were  his  prospects?  were  the  aunt's 
next  inquiries.  She  shook  her  head  at  the  an 
swers  which  she  received;  and  she  also  shook 


I 


"WHAT   IS  A   RUSTLER?"  261 

her  head  over  her  niece's  emphatic  denial  that 
her  heart  was  lost  to  this  man.  But  when  their 
parting  came,  the  old  lady  said :  — 

"  God  bless  you  and  keep  you,  my  dear.  I'll 
not  try  to  manage  you.  They  managed  me  —  " 
A  sigh  spoke  the  rest  of  this  sentence.  "  But 
I'm  not  worried  about  you  —  at  least,  not  very 
much.  You  have  never  done  anything  that  was 
not  worthy  of  the  Starks.  And  if  you're  going 
to  take  him,  do  it  before  I  die  so  that  I  can  bid  him 
welcome  for  your  sake.  God  bless  you,  my  dear." 

And  after  the  girl  had  gone  back  to  Benning- 
ton,  the  great-aunt  had  this  thought :  "  She  is  like 
us  all.  She  wants  a  man  that  is  a  man."  Nor 
did  the  old  lady  breathe  her  knowledge  to  any 
member  of  the  family.  For  she  was  a  loyal  spirit, 
and  her  girl's  confidence  was  sacred  to  her. 

"  Besides,"  she  reflected,  "  if  even  /  can  do  noth 
ing  with  her,  what  a  mess  theyd  make  of  it !  We 
should  hear  of  her  elopement  next." 

So  Molly's  immediate  family  never  saw  that 
photograph,  and  never  heard  a  word  from  her 
upon  this  subject.  But  on  the  day  that  she  left 
for  Bear  Creek,  as  they  sat  missing  her  and  dis 
cussing  her  visit  in  the  evening,  Mrs.  Bell  ob 
served  :  "  Mother,  how  did  you  think  she  was  ?  "  — 
"  I  never  saw  her  better,  Sarah.  That  horrible 
place  seems  to  agree  with  her." — "Oh,  yes,  agree. 
It  seemed  to  me  —  "—"  Well?"—"  Oh,  just  some 
how  that  she  was  thinking." — "Thinking?"  — 
"  Well,  I  believe  she  has  something  on  her 
mind." — "You  mean  a  man,"  said  Andrew  Bell. — 
"A  man,  Andrew  ?"  —  "  Yes,  Mrs.  Wood,  that's 
what  Sarah  always  means." 


262  THE  VIRGINIAN 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  Sarah's  surmises  did 
not  greatly  contribute  to  her  mother's  happiness. 
And  rumor  is  so  strange  a  thing  that  presently 
from  the  malicious  outside  air  came  a  vague  and 
dreadful  word  —  one  of  those  words  that  cannot 
be  traced  to  its  source.  Somebody  said  to 
Andrew  Bell  that  they  heard  Miss  Molly  Wood 
was  engaged  to  marry  a  rustler. 

"  Heavens,  Andrew !  "  said  his  wife ;  "  what  is 
a  rustler?" 

It  was  not  in  any  dictionary,  and  current  trans 
lations  of  it  were  inconsistent.  A  man  at  Hoosic 
Falls  said  that  he  had  passed  through  Cheyenne, 
and  heard  the  term  applied  in  a  complimentary 
way  to  people  who  were  alive  and  pushing. 
Another  man  had  always  supposed  it  meant 
some  kind  of  horse.  But  the  most  alarming  ver 
sion  of  all  was  that  a  rustler  was  a  cattle  thief. 

Now  the  truth  is  that  all  these  meanings  were 
right.  The  word  ran  a  sort  of  progress  in  the 
cattle  country,  gathering  many  meanings  as  it 
went.  It  gathered  more,  however,  in  Benning- 
ton.  In  a  very  few  days,  gossip  had  it  that 
Molly  was  engaged  to  a  gambler,  a  gold  miner,  an 
escaped  stage  robber,  and  a  Mexican  bandit ;  while 
Mrs.  Flynt  feared  she  had  married  a  Mormon. 

Along  Bear  Creek,  however,  Molly  and  her 
"  rustler "  took  a  ride  soon  after  her  return. 
They  were  neither  married  nor  engaged,  and 
she  was  telling  him  about  Vermont. 

"  I  never  was  there,"  said  he.  "  Never  hap 
pened  to  strike  in  that  direction." 

"  What  decided  your  direction  ?  " 

"  Oh,  looking  for  chances.      I  reckon  I  must 


"WHAT   IS  A   RUSTLER?"  263 

have  been  more  ambitious  than  my  brothers  — 
or  more  restless.  They  stayed  around  on  farms. 
But  I  got  out.  When  I  went  back  again  six 
years  afterward,  I  was  twenty.  They  was  talk 
ing  about  the  same  old  things.  Men  of  twenty- 
five  and  thirty  —  yet  just  sittin'  and  talkin'  about 
the  same  old  things.  I  told  my  mother  about 
what  I'd  seen  here  and  there,  and  she  liked  it, 
right  to  her  death.  But  the  others  —  well,  when 
I  found  this  whole  world  was  hawgs  and  turkeys 
to  them,  with  a  little  gunnin'  afteh  small  game 
throwed  in,  I  put  on  my  hat  one  mawnin'  and 
told  'em  maybe  when  I  was  fifty  I'd  look  in  on 
Jem  again  to  see  if  they'd  got  any  new  subjects. 
But  they'll  never.  My  brothers  don't  seem  to 
want  chances." 

"You  have  lost  a  good  many  yourself,"  said 
Molly. 

"  That's  correct." 

"And  yet,"  said  she,  "sometimes  I  think  you 
know  a  great  deal  more  than  I  ever  shall." 

"  Why,  of  course  I  do,"  said  he,  quite  simply. 
"  I  have  earned  my  living  since  I  was  fourteen. 
And  that's  from  old  Mexico  to  British  Columbia. 
I  have  never  stolen  or  begged  a  cent.  I'd  not 
want  yu'  to  know  what  I  know." 

She  was  looking  at  him,  half  listening  and  half 
thinking  of  her  great-aunt. 

"  I  am  not  losing  chances  any  more,"  he  con 
tinued.  "  And  you  are  the  best  I've  got." 

She  was  not  sorry  to  have  Georgie  Taylor 
come  galloping  along  at  this  moment  and  join 
them.  But  the  Virginian  swore  profanely  under  his 
breath.  And  .on  this  ride  nothing  more  happened. 


XXIII 

VARIOUS    POINTS 

LOVE  had  been  snowbound  for  many  weeks. 
Before  this  imprisonment  its  course  had  run 
neither  smooth  nor  rough,  so  far  as  eye  could 
see ;  it  had  run  either  not  at  all,  or,  as  an  under 
current,  deep  out  of  sight.  In  their  rides,  in 
their  talks,  love  had  been  dumb,  as  to  spoken 
words  at  least ;  for  the  Virginian  had  set  himself 
a  heavy  task  of  silence  and  of  patience.  Then, 
where  winter  barred  his  visits  to  Bear  Creek,  and 
there  was  for  the  while  no  ranch  work  or  responsi 
bility  to  fill  his  thoughts  and  blood  with  action, 
he  set  himself  a  task  much  lighter.  Often, 
instead  of  Shakespeare  and  fiction,  school  books 
lay  open  on  his  cabin  table ;  and  penmanship  and 
spelling  helped  the  hours  to  pass.  Many  sheets 
of  paper  did  he  fill  with  various  exercises,  and 
Mrs.  Henry  gave  him  her  assistance  in  advice 
and  corrections. 

"  I  shall  presently  be  in  love  with  him  myself," 
she  told  the  Judge.  "  And  it's  time  for  you  to 
become  anxious." 

"  I  am  perfectly  safe,"  he  retorted.  "  There's 
only  one  woman  for  him  any  more." 

"She  is  not  good  enough  for  him,"  declared 
Mrs.  Henry.  "  But  he'll  never  see  that." 

So  the  snow  fell,  the  world  froze,  and  the  spell- 

264 


VARIOUS   POINTS  265 

ing-books  and  exercises  went  on.  But  this  was 
not  the  only  case  of  education  which  was  pro 
gressing  at  the  Sunk  Creek  Ranch  while  love 
was  snowbound. 

One  morning  Scipio  le  Moyne  entered  the 
Virginian's  sitting  room  —  that  apartment  where 
Dr.  Mac  Bride  had  wrestled  with  sin  so  coura 
geously  all  night 

The  Virginian  sat  at  his  desk.  Open  books  lay 
around  him  ;  a  half-finished  piece  of  writing  was 
beneath  his  fist;  his  fingers  were  coated  with 
ink.  Education  enveloped  him,  it  may  be  said. 
But  there  was  none  in  his  eye.  That  was  upon 
the  window,  looking  far  across  the  cold  plain. 

The  foreman  did  not  move  when  Scipio  came 
in,  and  this  humorous  spirit  smiled  to  himself. 
"  It's  Bear  Creek  he's  havin'  a  vision  of,"  he  con 
cluded.  But  he  knew  instantly  that  this  was  not 
so.  The  Virginian  was  looking  at  something  real, 
and  Scipio  went  to  the  window  to  see  for  himself. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  having  seen,  "  when  is  he  going 
to  leave  us  ?  " 

The  foreman  continued  looking  at  two  horse 
men  riding  together.  Their  shapes,  small  in  the 
distance,  showed  black  against  the  universal  white 
ness. 

"  When  d'  yu'  figure  he'll  leave  us  ?  "  repeated 
Scipio. 

"  He,"  murmured  the  Virginian,  always  watch 
ing  the  distant  horsemen  ;  and  again,  "  he." 

Scipio  sprawled  down,  familiarly,  across  a  chair. 
He  and  the  Virginian  had  come  to  know  each 
other  very  well  since  that  first  meeting  at  Medora. 


266  THE  VIRGINIAN 

They  were  birds  many  of  whose  feathers  were  the 
same,  and  the  Virginian  often  talked  to  Scipio 
without  reserve.  Consequently,  Scipio  now  under 
stood  those  two  syllables  that  the  Virginian  had 
pronounced  precisely  as  though  the  sentences 
which  lay  between  them  had  been  fully  expressed. 

"  Hm,"  he  remarked.  "  Well,  one  will  be  a 
gain,  and  the  other  won't  be  no  loss." 

"  Poor  Shorty!  "said  the  Virginian.    "  Poor  fool!" 

Scipio  was  less  compassionate.  "  No,"  he  per 
sisted,  "  I  ain't  sorry  for  him.  Any  man  old 
enough  to  have  hair  on  his  face  ought  to  see 
through  Trampas." 

The  Virgiftian  looked  out  of  the  window  again, 
and  watched  Shorty  and  Trampas  as  they  rode  in 
the  distance.  "Shorty  is  kind  to  animals,"  he  said. 
"  He  has  gentled  that  hawss  Pedro  he  bought  with 
his  first  money.  Gentled  him  wonderful.  When 
a  man  is  kind  to  dumb  animals,  I  always  say  he 
had  got  some  good  in  him." 

"Yes,"  Scipio  reluctantly  admitted.  "Yes. 
But  I  always  did  hate  a  fool." 

"  This  hyeh  is  a  mighty  cruel  country,"  pur 
sued  the  Virginian.  "  To  animals  that  is.  Think 
of  it!  Think  what  we  do  to  hundreds  an'  thou 
sands  of  little  calves !  Throw  'em  down,  brand 
'em,  cut  'em,  ear  mark  'em,  turn  'em  loose,  and  on 
to  the  next.  It  has  got  to  be,  of  course.  But  I 
say  this.  If  a  man  can  go  jammin'  hot  irons  01 
to  little  calves  and  slicin'  pieces  off  'em  with  hi< 
knife,  and  live  along,  keepin'  a  kindness  for  ani 
mals  in  his  heart,  he  has  got  some  good  in  him. 
And  that's  what  Shorty  has  got.  But  he  is  let- 
tin'  Trampas  get  a  hold  of  him,  and  both  of  thei 


VARIOUS   POINTS  267 

will  leave  us."  And  the  Virginian  looked  out 
across  the  huge  winter  whiteness  again.  But  the 
riders  had  now  vanished  behind  some  foothills. 

Scipio  sat  silent.  He  had  never  put  these 
thoughts  about  men  and  animals  to  himself,  and 
when  they  were  put  to  him,  he  saw  that  they  were 
true. 

"  Queer,"  he  observed  finally. 

"  What  ? "^ 

"  Everything." 

"  Nothing's  queer,"  stated  the  Virginian,  "except 
marriage  and  lightning.  Them  two  occurrences 
can  still  give  me  a  sensation  of  surprise." 

"  All  the  same  it  is  queer,"  Scipio  insisted. 

"  Well,  let  her  go  at  me." 

"  Why,  Trampas.  He  done  you  dirt.  You 
pass  that  over.  You  could  have  fired  him,  but 
you  let  him  stay  and  keep  his  job.  That's  good 
ness.  And  badness  is  resultin'  from  it,  straight. 
Badness  right  from  goodness." 

"  You're  off  the  trail  a  whole  lot,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian. 

"  Which  side  am  I  off,  then  ?  " 

"  North,  south,  east,  and  west.  First  point :  I 
didn't  expect  to  do  Trampas  any  good  by  not 
killin'  him,  which  I  came  pretty  near  doin'  three 
times.  Nor  I  didn't  expect  to  do  Trampas  any 
good  by  lettin'  him  keep  his  job.  But  I  am 
foreman  of  this  ranch.  And  I  can  sit  and  tell 
all  men  to  their  face  :  '  I  was  above  that  mean 
ness.'  Point  two :  it  ain't  any  goodness,  it  is 
Trampas  that  badness  has  resulted  from.  Put 
him  anywhere  and  it  will  be  the  same.  Put  him 
under  my  eye,  and  I  can  follow  his  moves  a  little, 


268  THE  VIRGINIAN 

anyway.  You  have  noticed,  maybe,  that  since 
you  and  I  run  on  to  that  dead  Polled  Angus  cow, 
that  was  still  warm  when  we  got  to  her,  we  have 
found  no  more  cows  dead  of  sudden  death.  We 
came  mighty  close  to  catchin'  whoever  it  was  that 
killed  that  cow  and  ran  her  calf  off  to  his  own 
bunch.  He  wasn't  ten  minutes  ahead  of  us.  We 
can  prove  nothin' ;  and  he  knows  that  just  as  well 
as  we  do.  But  our  cows  have  all  quit  dyin'  of 
sudden  death.  And  Trampas  he's  gettin'  ready 
for  a  change  of  residence.  As  soon  as  all  the 
outfits  begin  hirin'  new  hands  in  the  spring, 
Trampas  will  leave  us  and  take  a  job  with  some 
of  them.  And  maybe  our  cows '11  commence 
gettin'  killed  again,  and  we'll  have  to  take  steps 
that  will  be  more  emphatic  —  maybe." 

Scipio  meditated.  "  I  wonder  what  killin'  a 
man  feels  like?  "  he  said. 

"  Why,  nothing  to  bother  yu' — when  he'd  ought 
to  have  been  killed.  Next  point :  Trampas  he'll 
take  Shorty  with  him,  which  is  certainly  bad  for 
Shorty.  But  it's  me  that  has  kept  Shorty  out  of 
harm's  way  this  long.  If  I  had  fired  Trampas, 
he'd  have  worked  Shorty  into  dissatisfaction  that 
much  sooner." 

Scipio  meditated  again.  "  I  knowed  Trampas 
would  pull  his  freight,"  he  said.  "  But  I  didn't 
think  of  Shorty.  What  makes  you  think  it  ?  " 

"He  asked  me  for  a  raise." 

"  He  ain't  worth  the  pay  he's  getting  now." 

"  Trampas  has  told  him  different." 

"  When  a  man  ain't  got  no  ideas  of  his  own,' 
said  Scipio,  "  he'd  ought  to  be  kind  o'  careful  wh< 
he  borrows  'em  from." 


VARIOUS   POINTS  269 

"  That's  mighty  correct,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Poor  Shorty !  He  has  told  me  about  his  life. 
It  is  sorrowful.  And  he  will  never  get  wise.  It 
was  too  late  for  him  to  get  wise  when  he  was 
born.  D'  yu'  know  why  he's  after  higher  wages  ? 
He  sends  most  all  his  money  East." 

"  I  don't  see  what  Trampas  wants  him  for,"  said 
Scipio. 

"  Oh,  a  handy  tool  some  day." 

"  Not  very  handy,"  said  Scipio. 

"  Well,  Trampas  is  aimin'  to  train  him.  Yu' 
see,  supposin'  yu'  were  figuring  to  turn  profes 
sional  thief  —  yu'd  be  lookin'  around  for  a  nice 
young  trustful  accomplice  to  take  all  the  punish 
ment  and  let  you  take  the  rest." 

"  No  such  thing!  "  cried  Scipio,  angrily.  "  I'm 
no  shirker."  And  then,  perceiving  the  Virginian's 
expression,  he  broke  out  laughing.  "  Well,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  yu'  fooled  me  that  time." 

"  Looks  that  way.  But  I  do  mean  it  about 
Trampas." 

Presently  Scipio  rose,  and  noticed  the  half- 
finished  exercise  upon  the  Virginian's  desk. 
"  Trampas  is  a  rolling  stone,"  he  said. 

"  A  rolling  piece  of  mud,"  corrected  the  Vir 
ginian. 

"  Mud !  That's  right.  I'm  a  rolling  stone. 
Sometimes  I'd  most  like  to  quit  being." 

"  That's  easy  done,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  No  doubt,  when  yu've  found  the  moss  yu' 
want  to  gather."  As  Scipio  glanced  at  the  school 
books  again,  a  sparkle  lurked  in  his  bleached  blue 
eye.  "  I  can  cipher  some,"  he  said.  "  But  I  ex 
pect  I've  got  my  own  notions  about  spelling." 


270  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  I  retain  a  few  private  ideas  that  way  myself," 
remarked  the  Virginian,  innocently ;  and  Scipio's 
sparkle  gathered  light. 

"  As  to  my  geography,"  he  pursued,  "  that's  away 
out  loose  in  the  brush.  Is  Bennington  the  capital 
of  Vermont  ?  And  how  d'  yu'  spell  bridegroom  ?  " 

"  Last  point !  "  shouted  the  Virginian,  letting  a 
book  fly  after  him :  "  don't  let  badness  and  good 
ness  worry  yu',  for  yu'll  never  be  a  judge  of 
them." 

But  Scipio  had  dodged  the  book,  and  was  gone. 
As  he  went  his  way,  he  said  to  himself,  "  All 
the  same,  it  must  pay  to  fall  regular  in  love."  At 
the  bunk  house  that  afternoon  it  was  observed 
that  he  was  unusually  silent. 

His  exit  from  the  foreman's  cabin  had  let  in  a 
breath  of  winter  so  chill  that  the  Virginian  went 
to  see  his  thermometer,  a  Christmas  present  from 
Mrs.  Henry.  It  registered  twenty  below  zero. 
After  reviving  the  fire  to  a  white  blaze,  the  fore 
man  sat  thinking  over  the  story  of  Shorty:  what 
its  useless,  feeble  past  had  been;  what  would  be  its 
useless,  feeble  future.  He  shook  his  head  over 
the  sombre  question,  Was  there  any  way  out  for 
Shorty?  "It  may  be,"  he  reflected,  "that  them 
whose  pleasure  brings  yu'  into  this  world  owes  yu' 
a  living.  But  that  don't  make  the  world  respon 
sible.  The  world  did  not  beget  you.  I  reckoi 
man  helps  them  that  help  themselves.  As  for 
the  universe,  it  looks  like  it  did  too  wholesale  a 
business  to  turn  out  an  article  up  to  standard 
every  clip.  Yes,  it  is  sorrowful.  For  Shorty  is 
kind  to  his  hawss." 

In  the  evening  the  Virginian  brought  Shorty 


VARIOUS   POINTS  271 

into  his  room.  He  usually  knew  what  he  had  to 
say ;  usually  found  it  easy  to  arrange  his  thoughts ; 
and  after  such  arranging  the  words  came  of  them 
selves.  But  as  he  looked  at  Shorty,  this  did  not 
happen  to  him.  There  was  not  a  line  of  badness 
in  the  face ;  yet  also  there  was  not  a  line  of 
strength ;  no  promise  in  eye,  or  nose,  or  chin ;  the 
whole  thing  melted  to  a  stubby,  featureless  medi 
ocrity.  It  was  a  countenance  like  thousands; 
and  hopelessness  filled  the  Virginian  as  he  looked 
at  this  lost  dog,  and  his  dull,  wistful  eyes. 

But  some  beginning  must  be  made. 

"  I  wonder  what  the  thermometer  has  got  to 
be,"  he  said.  "  Yu'  can  see  it,  if  yu'll  hold  the 
lamp  to  that  right  side  of  the  window." 

Shorty  held  the  lamp.  "  I  never  used  any,"  he 
said,  looking  out  at  the  instrument,  nevertheless. 

The  Virginian  had  forgotten  that  Shorty  could 
not  read.  So  he  looked  out  of  the  window  him 
self,  and  found  that  it  was  twenty-two  below  zero. 
"  This  is  pretty  good  tobacco,"  he  remarked ;  and 
Shorty  helped  himself,  and  filled  his  pipe. 

"  I  had  to  rub  my  left  ear  with  snow  to-day," 
said  he.  "  I  was  just  in  time." 

"  I  thought  it  looked  pretty  freezy  out  where  yu' 
was  riding,"  said  the  foreman. 

The  lost  dog's  eyes  showed  plain  astonishment. 
"  We  didn't  see  you  out  there,"  said  he. 

"Well,"  said  the  foreman,  "it'll  soon  not  be 
freezing  any  more ;  and  then  we'll  all  be  warm 
enough  with  work.  Everybody  will  be  working 
all  over  the  range.  And  I  wish  I  knew  somebody 
that  had  a  lot  of  stable  work  to  be  attended  to. 
I  cert'nly  do  for  your  sake." 


272  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"Why?  "said  Shorty. 

"  Because  it's  the  right  kind  of  a  job  for  you." 

"  I  can  make  more  — "  began  Shorty,  and 
stopped. 

"  There  is  a  time  coming,"  said  the  Virginian, 
"  when  I'll  want  somebody  that  knows  how  to  get 
the  friendship  of  hawsses.  I'll  want  him  to  handle 
some  special  hawsses  the  Judge  has  plans  about. 
Judge  Henry  would  pay  fifty  a  month  for  that." 

"  I  can  make  more,"  said  Shorty,  this  time  with 
stubbornness. 

"Well,  yes.  Sometimes  a  man  can  —  when 
he's  not  worth  it,  I  mean.  But  it  don't  generally 
last." 

Shorty  was  silent. 

"  I  used  to  make  more  myself,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian. 

"  You're  making  a  lot  more  now,"  said  Shorty. 

"  Oh,  yes.  But  I  mean  when  I  was  fooling 
around  the  earth,  jumping  from  job  to  job,  and 
helling  all  over  town  between  whiles.  I  was  not 
worth  fifty  a  month  then,  nor  twenty-five.  But 
there  was  nights  I  made  a  heap  more  at  cyards." 

Shorty's  eyes  grew  large. 

"  And  then,  bang !  it  was  gone  with  treatin'  the 
men  and  the  girls." 

"  I  don't  always  — "  said  Shorty,  and  stopped 
again. 

The  Virginian  knew  that  he  was  thinking  about 
the  money  he  sent  East.  "  After  a  while,"  he 
continued,  "  I  noticed  a  right  strange  fact.  The 
money  I  made  easy  that  I  wasn't  worth,  it  went 
like  it  came.  I  strained  myself  none  gettin'  or 
spendin'  it.  But  the  money  I  made  hard  that  I 


VARIOUS   POINTS  273 

was  worth,  why  I  began  to  feel  right  careful  about 
that.  And  now  I  have  got  savings  stowed  away. 
If  once  yu'  could  know  how  good  that  feels  —  " 

"  So  I  would  know,"  said  Shorty,  "  with  your 
luck." 

"  What's  my  luck  ?  "  said  the  Virginian,  sternly. 

"Well,  if  I  had  took  up  land  along  a  creek  that 
never  goes  dry  and  proved  upon  it  like  you  have, 
and  if  I  had  saw  that  land  raise  its  value  on  me 
with  me  lifting  no  finger  —  " 

"  Why  did  you  lift  no  finger  ?  "  cut  in  the  Vir 
ginian.  "  Who  stopped  yu'  taking  up  land  ?  Did 
it  not  stretch  in  front  of  yu',  behind  yu',  all  around 
yu',  the  biggest,  baldest  opportunity  in  sight? 
That  was  the  time  I  lifted  my  finger;  but  yu' 
didn't." 

Shorty  stood  stubborn. 

"  But  never  mind  that,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Take  my  land  away  to-morrow,  and  I'd  still  have 
my  savings  in  bank.  Because,  you  see,  I  had  to 
work  right  hard  gathering  them  in.  I  found  out 
what  I  could  do,  and  I  settled  down  and  did  it. 
Now  you  can  do  that  too.  The  only  tough  part 
is  the  finding  out  what  you're  good  for.  And  for 
you,  that  is  found.  If  you'll  just  decide  to  work 
at  this  thing  you  can  do,  and  gentle  those  hawsses 
for  the  Judge,  you'll  be  having  savings  in  a  bank 
yourself." 

"  I  can  make  more,"  said  the  lost  dog. 

The  Virginian  was  on  the  point  of  saying, 
"  Then  get  out !  "  But  instead,  he  spoke  kindness 
to  the  end.  "  The  weather  is  freezing  yet,"  he  said, 
"  and  it  will  be  for  a  good  long  while.  Take 
your  time,  and  tell  me  if  yu'  change  your  mind." 


274  THE    VIRGINIAN 

After  that  Shorty  returned  to  the  bunk  house, 
and  the  Virginian  knew  that  the  boy  had  learned 
his  lesson  of  discontent  from  Trampas  with  a 
thoroughness  past  all  unteaching.  This  petty 
triumph  of  evil  seemed  scarce  of  the  size  to  count 
as  any  victory  over  the  Virginian.  But  all  men 
grasp  at  straws.  Since  that  first  moment,  when  in 
the  Medicine  Bow  saloon  the  Virginian  had  shut 
the  mouth  of  Trampas  by  a  word,  the  man  had 
been  trying  to  get  even  without  risk ;  and  at  each 
successive  clash  of  his  weapon  with  the  Virgin 
ian's,  he  had  merely  met  another  public  humilia 
tion.  Therefore,  now  at  the  Sunk  Creek  Ranch  in 
these  cold  white  days,  a  certain  lurking  insolence  in 
his  gait  showed  plainly  his  opinion  that  by  disaffect- 
ing  Shorty  he  had  made  some  sort  of  reprisal. 

Yes,  he  had  poisoned  the  lost  dog.  In  the 
springtime,  when  the  neighboring  ranches  needed 
additional  hands,  it  happened  as  the  Virginian  had 
foreseen,  —  Trampas  departed  to  a  "  better  job," 
as  he  took  pains  to  say,  and  with  him  the  docile 
Shorty  rode  away  upon  his  horse  Pedro. 

Love  now  was  not  any  longer  snowbound.  The 
mountain  trails  were  open  enough  for  the  sure 
feet  of  love's  steed  —  that  horse  called  Monte. 
But  duty  blocked  the  path  of  love.  Instead  of 
turning  his  face  to  Bear  Creek,  the  foreman  had 
other  journeys  to  make,  full  of  heavy  work,  and 
watchfulness,  and  councils  with  the  Judge.  The 
cattle  thieves  were  growing  bold,  and  winter  had 
scattered  the  cattle  widely  over  the  range.  There 
fore  the  Virginian,  instead  of  going  to  see  her, 
wrote  a  letter  to  his  sweetheart.  It  was  his  first. 


XXIV 

A    LETTER   WITH    A    MORAL 

THE  letter  which  the  Virginian  wrote  to  Molly 
Wood  was,  as  has  been  stated,  the  first  that  he  had 
ever  addressed  to  her.  I  think,  perhaps,  he  may 
have  been  a  little  shy  as  to  his  skill  in  the  epis 
tolary  art,  a  little  anxious  lest  any  sustained  pro 
duction  from  his  pen  might  contain  blunders  that 
would  too  staringly  remind  her  of  his  scant  learn 
ing.  He  could  turn  off  a  business  communication 
about  steers  or  stock  cars,  or  any  other  of  the  sub 
jects  involved  in  his  profession,  with  a  brevity  and 
a  clearness  that  led  the  Judge  to  confide  three- 
quarters  of  such  correspondence  to  his  foreman. 
"  Write  to  the  76  outfit,"  the  Judge  would  say, 
"  and  tell  them  that  my  wagon  cannot  start  for 
the  round-up  until,"  etc. ;  or  "  Write  to  Cheyenne 
and  say  that  if  they  will  hold  a  meeting  next 
Monday  week,  I  will,"  etc.  And  then  the  Virgin 
ian  would  write  such  communications  with  ease. 

But  his  first  message  to  his  lady  was  scarcely 
written  with  ease.  It  must  be  classed,  I  think, 
among  those  productions  which  are  styled  literary 
efforts.  It  was  completed  in  pencil  before  it  was 
copied  in  ink ;  and  that  first  draft  of  it  in  pencil 
was  well-nigh  illegible  with  erasures  and  amend 
ments.  The  state  of  mind  of  the  writer  during 

275 


276  THE   VIRGINIAN 

its  composition  may  be  gathered  without  further 
description  on  my  part  from  a  slight  interruption 
which  occurred  in  the  middle. 

The  door  opened,  and  Scipio  put  his  head  in. 
"  You  coming  to  dinner  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  You  go  to  hell,"  replied  the  Virginian. 

"  My  jinks ! "  said  Scipio,  quietly,  and  he  shut 
the  door  without  further  observation. 

To  tell  the  truth,  I  doubt  if  this  letter  would 
ever  have  been  undertaken,  far  less  completed  and 
despatched,  had  not  the  lover's  heart  been  wrung 
with  disappointment.  All  winter  long  he  had 
looked  to  that  day  when  he  should  knock  at  the 
girl's  door,  and  hear  her  voice  bid  him  come  in. 
All  winter  long  he  had  been  choosing  the  ride  he 
would  take  her.  He  had  imagined  a  sunny  after 
noon,  a  hidden  grove,  a  sheltering  cleft  of  rock,  a 
running  spring,  and  some  words  of  his  that  should 
conquer  her  at  last  and  leave  his  lips  upon  hers. 
And  with  this  controlled  fire  pent  up  within  him, 
he  had  counted  the  days,  scratching  them  off  his 
calendar  with  a  dig  each  night  that  once  or  twice 
snapped  the  pen.  Then,  when  the  trail  stood 
open,  this  meeting  was  deferred,  put  off  for  in 
definite  days,  or  weeks ;  he  could  not  tell  how 
long.  So,  gripping  his  pencil  and  tracing  heavy 
words,  he  gave  himself  what  consolation  he  could 
by  writing  her. 

The  letter,  duly  stamped  and  addressed  to  Bear 
Creek,  set  forth  upon  its  travels ;  and  these  were 
devious  and  long.  When  it  reached  its  destina 
tion,  it  was  some  twenty  days  old.  It  had  gone 
by  private  hand  at  the  outset,  taken  the  stage 
coach  at  a  way  point,  become  late  in  that  stage- 


A   LETTER  WITH   A   MORAL  277 

i 

coach,  reached  a  point  of  transfer,  and  waited 
there  for  the  postmaster  to  begin,  continue,  end, 
and  recover  from  a  game  of  poker,  mingled  with 
whiskey.  Then  it  once  more  proceeded,  was 
dropped  at  the  right  way  point,  and  carried  by 
private  hand  to  Bear  Creek.  The  experience  of 
this  letter,  however,  was  not  at  all  a  remarkable 
one  at  that  time  in  Wyoming. 

Molly  Wood  looked  at  the  envelope.  She  had 
never  before  seen  the  Virginian's  handwriting. 
She  knew  it  instantly.  She  closed  her  door,  and 
sat  down  to  read  it  with  a  beating  heart. 

SUNK  CREEK  RANCH, 
May  5,  188- 

MY  DEAR  Miss  WOOD  :  I  am  sorry  about  this.  My  plan  was 
different.  It  was  to  get  over  for  a  ride  with  you  about  now  or 
sooner.  This  year  Spring  is  early.  The  snow  is  off  the  flats 
this  side  the  range  and  where  the  sun  gets  a  chance  to  hit  the 
earth  strong  all  day  it  is  green  and  has  flowers  too,  a  good 
many.  You  can  see  them  bob  and  mix  together  in  the  wind. 
The  quaking-asps  down  low  on  the  South  side  are  in  small  leaf 
and  will  soon  be  twinkling  like  the  flowers  do  now.  I  had 
planned  to  take  a  look  at  this  with  you  and  that  was  a  better 
plan  than  what  I  have  got  to  do.  The  water  is  high  but  I 
could  have  got  over  and  as  for  the  snow  on  top  of  the  mountain 
a  man  told  me  nobody  could  cross  it  for  a  week  yet,  because  he 
had  just  done  it  himself.  Was  not  he  a  funny  man?  You  ought 
to  see  how  the  birds  have  streamed  across  the  sky  while  Spring 
was  coming.  But  you  have  seen  them  on  your  side  of  the 
mountain.  But  I  can't  come  now  Miss  Wood.  There  is  a  lot 
for  me  to  do  that  has  to  be  done  and  Judge  Henry  needs  more 
than  two  eyes  just  now.  I  could  not  think  much  of  myself  if  I 
left  him  for  my  own  wishes. 

But  the  days  will  be  warmer  when  I  come.  We  will  not  have 
to  quit  by  five,  and  we  can  get  off  and  sit  too.  We  could  not 
sit  now  unless  for  a  very  short  while.  If  I  know  when  I  can 
come  I  will  try  to  let  you  know,  but  I  think  it  will  be  this  way. 
I  think  you  will  just  see  me  coming  for  I  have  things  to  do  of 


278  THE   VIRGINIAN 

« 

an  unsure  nature  and  a  good  number  of  such.  Do  not  believe 
reports  about  Indians.  They  are  started  by  editors  to  keep  the 
soldiers  in  the  country.  The  friends  of  the  editors  get  the  hay 
and  beef  contracts.  Indians  do  not  come  to  settled  parts  like 
Bear  Creek  is.  It  is  all  editors  and  politicianists. 

Nothing  has  happened  worth  telling  you.  I  have  read  that 
play  Othello.  No  man  should  write  down  such  a  thing.  Do 
you  know  if  it  is  true  ?  I  have  seen  one  worse  affair  down  in 
Arizona.  He  killed  his  little  child  as  well  as  his  wife  but  such 
things  should  not  be  put  down  in  fine  language  for  the  public. 
I  have  read  Romeo  and  Juliet.  That  is  beautiful  language  but 
Romeo  is  no  man.  I  like  his  friend  Mercutio  that  gets  killed. 
He  is  a  man.  If  he  had  got  Juliet  there  would  have  been  no 
foolishness  and  trouble. 

Well  Miss  Wood  I  would  like  to  see  you  to-day.  Do  you 
know  what  I  think  Monte  would  do  if  I  rode  him  out  and  let 
the  rein  slack?  He  would  come  straight  to  your  gate  for  he 
is  a  horse  of  great  judgement.  ("That's  the  first  word  he  has 
misspelled,"  said  Molly.)  I  suppose  you  are  sitting  with  George 
Taylor  and  those  children  right  now.  Then  George  will  get  old 
enough  to  help  his  father  but  Uncle  Hewie's  twins  will  be  ready 
for  you  about  then  and  the  supply  will  keep  coming  from  all 
quarters  all  sizes  for  you  to  say  big  A  little  a  to  them.  There 
is  no  news  here.  Only  calves  and  cows  and  the  hens  are  laying 
now  which  does  always  seem  news  to  a  hen  every  time  she  does 
it.  Did  I  ever  tell  you  about  a  hen  Emily  we  had  here  ?  She 
was  venturesome  to  an  extent  I  have  not  seen  in  other  hens 
only  she  had  poor  judgement  and  would  make  no  family  ties. 
She  would  keep  trying  to  get  interest  in  the  ties  of  others  taking 
charge  of  little  chicks  and  bantams  and  turkeys  and  puppies 
one  time,  and  she  thought  most  anything  was  an  egg.  I  will 
tell  you  about  her  sometime.  She  died  without  family  ties  one 
day  while  I  was  building  a  house  for  her  to  teach  school  in. 
("The  outrageous  wretch!"  cried  Molly.  And  her  cheeks 
turned  deep  pink  as  she  sat  alone  with  her  lover's  letter.) 

I  am  coming  the  first  day  I  am  free.  I  will  be  a  hundred 
miles  from  you  most  of  the  time  when  I  am  not  more  but  I  will 
ride  a  hundred  miles  for  one  hour  and  Monte  is  up  to  that. 
After  never  seeing  you  for  so  long  I  will  make  one  hour  do  if 
I  have  to.  Here  is  a  flower  I  have  just  been  out  and  picked. 
I  have  kissed  it  now.  That  is  the  best  I  can  do  yet. 


A   LETTER   WITH   A   MORAL  279 

Molly  laid  the  letter  in  her  lap  and  looked  at 
the  flower.  Then  suddenly  she  jumped  up  and 
pressed  it  to  her  lips,  and  after  a  long  moment 
held  it  away  from  her. 

"  No,"  she  said.     "  No,  no,  no."     She  sat  down. 

It  was  some  time  before  she  finished  the  letter. 
Then  once  more  she  got  up  and  put  on  her  hat. 

Mrs.  Taylor  wondered  where  the  girl  could  be 
walking  so  fast.  But  she  was  not  walking  any 
where,  and  in  half  an  hour  she  returned,  rosy  with 
her  swift  exercise,  but  with  a  spirit  as  perturbed 
as  when  she  had  set  out. 

Next  morning  at  six,  when  she  looked  out  of 
her  window,  there  was  Monte  tied  to  the  Taylor's 
gate.  Ah,  could  he  have  come  the  day  before, 
could  she  have  found  him  when  she  returned 
from  that  swift  walk  of  hers ! 


XXV 

PROGRESS    OF    THE    LOST    DOG 

IT  was  not  even  an  hour's  visit  that  the  Vir 
ginian  was  able  to  pay  his  lady  love.  But  neither 
had  he  come  a  hundred  miles  to  see  her.  The 
necessities  of  his  wandering  work  had  chanced 
to  bring  him  close  enough  for  a  glimpse  of  her, 
and  this  glimpse  he  took,  almost  on  the  wing. 
For  he  had  to  rejoin  a  company  of  men  at  once. 

"  Yu'  got  my  letter  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Yesterday." 

"  Yesterday!     I  wrote  it  three  weeks  ago.    Well, 
yu'  got  it.      This  cannot  be  the  hour  with  yoi 
that  I  mentioned.     That  is  coming,  and  mayl 
very  soon." 

She  could  say  nothing.  Relief  she  felt,  and 
yet  with  it  something  like  a  pang. 

"  To-day  does  not  count,"  he  told  her,  "  except 
that  every  time  I  see  you  counts  with  me.  Bui 
this  is  not  the  hour  that  I  mentioned." 

What  little  else  was  said  between  them  upoi 
this  early  morning  shall  be  told  duly.  For  this 
visit  in  its  own  good  time  did  count  momentously, 
though  both  of  them  took  it  lightly  while  its 
fleeting  minutes  passed.  He  returned  to  her 
two  volumes  that  she  had  lent  him  long  ago, 
and  with  Taylor  he  left  a  horse  which  he  had 

280 


PROGRESS  OF  THE   LOST  DOG  281 

brought  for  her  to  ride.  As  a  good-by,  he  put 
a  bunch  of  flowers  in  her  hand.  Then  he  was 
gone,  and  she  watched  him  going  by  the  thick 
bushes  along  the  stream.  They  were  pink  with 
wild  roses ;  and  the  meadow-larks,  invisible  in 
the  grass,  like  hiding  choristers,  sent  up  across 
the  empty  miles  of  air  their  unexpected  song. 
Earth  and  sky  had  been  propitious,  could  he 
have  stayed ;  and  perhaps  one  portion  of  her 
heart  had  been  propitious  too.  So,  as  he  rode 
away  on  Monte,  she  watched  him,  half  chilled 
by  reason,  half  melted  by  passion,  self-thwarted, 
self-accusing,  unresolved.  Therefore  the  days 
that  came  for  her  now  were  all  of  them  unhappy 
ones,  while  for  him  they  were  filled  with  work 
well  done  and  with  changeless  longing. 

One  day  it  seemed  as  if  a  lull  was  coming,  a 
pause  in  which  he  could  at  last  attain  that  hour 
with  her.  He  left  the  camp  and  turned  his  face 
toward  Bear  Creek.  The  way  led  him  along 
Butte  Creek.  Across  the  stream  lay  Balaam's 
large  ranch;  and  presently  on  the  other  bank 
he  saw  Balaam  himself,  and  reined  in  Monte  for 
a  moment  to  watch  what  Balaam  was  doing. 

"  That's  what  I've  heard,"  he  muttered  to  him 
self.  For  Balaam  had  led  some  horses  to  the 
water,  and  was  lashing  them  heavily  because  they 
would  not  drink.  He  looked  at  this  spectacle 
so  intently  that  he  did  not  see  Shorty  approach 
ing  along  the  trail. 

"  Morning,"  said  Shorty  to  him,  with  some 
constraint. 

But  the  Virginian  gave  him  a  pleasant  greeting. 


282  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  I  was  afraid  I'd  not  catch  you  so  quick,"  said 
Shorty.  "  This  is  for  you."  He  handed  his  recent 
foreman  a  letter  of  much  battered  appearance. 
It  was  from  the  Judge.  It  had  not  come  straight, 
but  very  gradually,  in  the  pockets  of  three  suc 
cessive  cow-punchers.  As  the  Virginian  glanced 
over  it  and  saw  that  the  enclosure  it  contained 
was  for  Balaam,  his  heart  fell.  Here  were  new 
orders  for  him,  and  he  could  not  go  to  see  his 
sweetheart. 

"  Hello,  Shorty ! "  said  Balaam,  from  over  the 
creek.  To  the  Virginian  he  gave  a  slight  nod. 
He  did  not  know  him,  although  he  knew  well 
enough  who  he  was. 

"  Hyeh's  a  letter  from  Judge  Henry  for  yu'," 
said  the  Virginian,  and  he  crossed  the  creek. 

Many  weeks  before,  in  the  early  spring,  Balaam 
had  borrowed  two  horses  from  the  Judge,  prom 
ising  to  return  them  at  once.  But  the  Judge, 
of  course,  wrote  very  civilly.  He  hoped  that 
"  this  dunning  reminder  "  might  be  excused.  As 
Balaam  read  the  reminder,  he  wished  that  he  had 
sent  the  horses  before.  The  Judge  was  a  greater 
man  than  he  in  the  Territory.  Balaam  could 
not  but  excuse  the  "dunning  reminder,"  —  but 
he  was  ready  to  be  disagreeable  to  somebody  at 
once. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  musing  aloud  in  his  annoyance, 
"  Judge  Henry  wants  them  by  the  3Oth.  Well, 
this  is  the  24th,  and  time  enough  yet." 

"This  is  the  27th,"  said  the  Virginian,  brieflyo 

That  made  a  difference !  Not  so  easy  to  reach 
Sunk  Creek  in  good  order  by  the  3oth !  Balaam 
had  drifted  three  sunrises  behind  the  progress  of 


PROGRESS  OF  THE   LOST  DOG  283 

the  month.  Days  look  alike,  and  often  lose  their 
very  names  in  the  quiet  depths  of  Cattle  Land. 
The  horses  were  not  even  here  at  the  ranch. 
Balaam  was  ready  to  be  very  disagreeable  now. 
Suddenly  he  perceived  the  date  of  the  Judge's 
letter.  He  held  it  out  to  the  Virginian,  and 
struck  the  paper. 

"  What's  your  idea  in  bringing  this  here  two 
weeks  late  ?  "  he  said. 

Now,  when  he  had  struck  that  paper,  Shorty 
looked  at  the  Virginian.  But  nothing  happened 
beyond  a  certain  change  of  light  in  the  South 
erner's  eyes.  And  when  the  Southerner  spoke, 
it  was  with  his  usual  gentleness  and  civility.  He 
explained  that  the  letter  had  been  put  in  his  hands 
just  now  by  Shorty. 

"Oh,"  said  Balaam.  He  looked  at  Shorty. 
How  had  he  come  to  be  a  messenger  ?  "  You 
working  for  the  Sunk  Creek  outfit  again  ? "  said 
he. 

"  No,"  said  Shorty. 

Balaam  turned  to  the  Virginian  again.  "  How 
do  you  expect  me  to  get  those  horses  to  Sunk 
Creek  by  the  soth  ?  " 

The  Virginian  levelled  a  lazy  eye  on  Balaam. 
"  I  ain'  doin'  any  expecting,"  said  he.  His  native 
dialect  was  on  top  to-day.  "  The  Judge  has 
friends  goin'  to  arrive  from  New  Yawk  for  a  trip 
across  the  Basin,"  he  added.  "  The  hawsses  are 
for  them." 

Balaam  grunted  with  displeasure,  and  thought 
of  the  sixty  or  seventy  days  since  he  had  told  the 
Judge  he  would  return  the  horses  at  once.  He 
looked  across  at  Shorty  seated  in  the  shade,  and 


284  THE   VIRGINIAN 

through  his  uneasy  thoughts  his  instinct  irrele 
vantly  noted  what  a  good  pony  the  youth  rode. 
It  was  the  same  animal  he  had  seen  once  or 
twice  before.  But  something  must  be  done. 
The  Judge's  horses  were  far  out  on  the  big 
range,  and  must  be  found  and  driven  in,  which 
would  take  certainly  the  rest  of  this  day,  pos 
sibly  part  of  the  next. 

Balaam  called  to  one  of  his  men  and  gave  some 
sharp  orders,  emphasizing  details,  and  enjoining 
haste,  while  the  Virginian  leaned  slightly  against 
his  horse,  with  one  arm  over  the  saddle,  hearing 
and  understanding,  but  not  smiling  outwardly. 
The  man  departed  to  saddle  up  for  his  search  on 
the  big  range,  and  Balaam  resumed  the  unhitch 
ing  of  his  team. 

"  So  you're  not  working  for  the  Sunk  Creek 
outfit  now  ?  "  he  inquired  of  Shorty.  He  ignored 
the  Virginian.  "  Working  for  the  Goose  Egg  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Shorty. 

"Sand  Hill  outfit,  then?" 

"  No,"  said  Shorty. 

Balaam  grinned.  He  noticed  how  Shorty's 
yellow  hair  stuck  through  a  hole  in  his  hat,  and 
how  old  and  battered  were  Shorty's  overalls. 
Shorty  had  been  glad  to  take  a  little  accidental 
pay  for  becoming  the  bearer  of  the  letter  which 
he  had  delivered  to  the  Virginian.  But  even 
that  sum  was  no  longer  in  his  possession.  He 
had  passed  through  Drybone  on  his  way,  and 
at  Drybone  there  had  been  a  game  of  poker. 
Shorty's  money  was  now  in  the  pocket  of 
Trampas.  But  he  had  one  valuable  possession  in 
the  world  left  to  him,  and  that  was  his  horse  Pedro. 


, 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   LOST   DOG  285 

"  Good  pony  of  yours,"  said  Balaam  to  him  now, 
from  across  Butte  Creek.  Then  he  struck  his 
own  horse  in  the  jaw  because  he  held  back  from 
coming  to  the  water  as  the  other  had  done. 

"  Your  trace  ain't  unhitched,"  commented  the 
Virginian,  pointing, 

Balaam  loosed  the  strap  he  had  forgotten,  and 
cut 'the  horse  again  for  consistency's  sake.  The 
animal,  bewildered,  now  came  down  to  the  water, 
with  its  head  in  the  air,  and  snuffing  as  it  took 
short,  nervous  steps. 

The  Virginian  looked  on  at  this,  silent  and 
sombre.  He  could  scarcely  interfere  between 
another  man  and  his  own  beast.  Neither  he  nor 
Balaam  was  among  those  who  say  their  prayers. 
Yet  in  this  omission  they  were  not  equal.  A 
half -great  poet  once  had  a  wholly  great  day,  and 
in  that  great  day  he  was  able  to  write  a  poem 
that  has  lived  and  become,  with  many,  a  house 
hold  word.  He  called  it  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient 
Mariner.  And  it  is  rich  with  many  lines  that 
possess  the  memory;  but  these  are  the  golden 
ones: — 

"  He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast. 

He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 


These  lines  are  the  pure  gold.  They  are  good 
to  teach  children  ;  because  after  the  children  come 
to  be  men,  they  may  believe  at  least  some  part  of 


286  THE   VIRGINIAN 

them  still.  The  Virginian  did  not  know  them,  — 
but  his  heart  had  taught  him  many  things.  I 
doubt  if  Balaam  knew  them  either.  But  on  him 
they  would  have  been  as  pearls  to  swine. 

"So  you've  quit  the  round-up? "  he  resumed  to 
Shorty. 

Shorty  nodded  and  looked  sidewise  at  the 
Virginian. 

For  the  Virginian  knew  that  he  had  been 
turned  off  for  going  to  sleep  while  night-herding. 

Then  Balaam  threw  another  glance  on  Pedro 
the  horse. 

"  Hello,  Shorty ! "  he  called  out,  for  the  boy 
was  departing.  "  Don't  you  like  dinner  any  more? 
It's  ready  about  now." 

Shorty  forded  the  creek  and  slung  his  saddle 
off,  and  on  invitation  turned  Pedro,  his  buckskin 
pony,  into  Balaam's  pasture.  This  was  green,  the 
rest  of  the  wide  world  being  yellow,  except  only 
where  Butte  Creek,  with  its  bordering  cotton- 
woods,  coiled  away  into  the  desert  distance  like 
a  green  snake  without  end.  The  Virginian  also 
turned  his  horse  into  the  pasture.  He  must  stay 
at  the  ranch  till  the  Judge's  horses  should  be 
found. 

"  Mrs.  Balaam's  East  yet,"  said  her  lord,  leading 
the  way  to  his  dining  room. 

He  wanted  Shorty  to  dine  with  him,  and  could 
not  exclude  the  Virginian,  much  as  he  should 
have  enjoyed  this. 

"  See  any  Indians  ?  "  he  enquired. 

"  Na-a ! "  said  Shorty,  in  disdain  of  recent 
rumors. 

"  They're  headin'  the  other  way,"  observed  the 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   LOST   DOG  287 

Virginian.  "  Bow  Laig  Range  is  where  they  was 
repawted." 

"  What  business  have  they  got  off  the  reserva 
tion,  I'd  like  to  know,"  said  the  ranchman  — 
"  Bow  Leg,  or  anywhere  ? " 

"  Oh,  it's  just  a  hunt,  and  a  kind  of  visitin'  their 
friends  on  the  South  Reservation,"  Shorty  ex 
plained.  "  Squaws  along  and  all." 

"  Well,  if  the  folks  at  Washington  don't  keep 
squaws  and  all  where  they  belong,"  said  Balaam, 
in  a  rage,  "  the  folks  in  Wyoming  Territory  'ill 
do  a  little  job  that  way  themselves." 

"  There's  a  petition  out,"  said  Shorty.  "  Paper's 
goin'  East  with  a  lot  of  names  to  it.  But  they 
ain't  no  harm,  them  Indians  ain't." 

"  No  harm  ?  "  rasped  out  Balaam.  "  Was  it 
white  men  druv  off  the  O.  C.  yearlings  ? " 

Balaam's  Eastern  grammar  was  sometimes  at 
the  mercy  of  his  Western  feelings.  The  thought 
of  the  perennial  stultification  of  Indian  affairs  at 
Washington,  whether  by  politician  or  philanthro 
pist,  was  always  sure  to  arouse  him.  He  walked 
impatiently  about  while  he  spoke,  and  halted  im 
patiently  at  the  window.  Out  in  the  world  the 
unclouded  day  was  shining,  and  Balaam's  eye 
travelled  across  the  plains  to  where  a  blue  line, 
faint  and  pale,  lay  along  the  end  of  the  vast  yellow 
distance.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  Bow  Leg 
Mountains.  Somewhere  over  there  were  the  red 
men,  ranging  in  unfrequented  depths  of  rock  and 
pine — their  forbidden  ground. 

Dinner  was  ready,  and  they  sat  down. 

"  And  I  suppose,"  Balaam  continued,  still  hot 
on  the  subject,  "you'd  claim  Indians  object  to 


288  THE  VIRGINIAN 

killing  a  white  man  when  they  run  on  to  him  good 
and  far  from  human  help  ?  These  peaceable 
Indians  are  just  the  worst  in  the  business." 

"  That's  so,"  assented  the  easy-opinioned  Shorty, 
exactly  as  if  he  had  always  maintained  this  view. 
"  Chap  started  for  Sunk  Creek  three  weeks  ago. 
Trapper  Jie  was;  old  like,  with  a  red  shirt.  One 
of  his  horses  come  into  the  round-up  Toosday. 
Man  ain't  been  heard  from."  He  ate  in  silence 
for  a  while,  evidently  brooding  in  his  childlike 
mind.  Then  he  said,  querulously,  "  I'd  sooner 
trust  one  of  them  Indians  than  I  would  Tram- 
pas." 

Balaam  slanted  his  fat  bullet  head  far  to  one 
side,  and  laying  his  spoon  down  (he  had  opened 
some  canned  grapes)  laughed  steadily  at  his  guest 
with  a  harsh  relish  of  irony. 

The  guest  ate  a  grape,  and  perceiving  he  was 
seen  through,  smiled  back  rather  miserably. 

"  Say,  Shorty,"  said  Balaam,  his  head  still 
slanted  over,  "  what's  the  figures  of  your  bank 
balance  just  now  ?  " 

"  I  ain't  usin'  banks,"  murmured  the  youth. 

Balaam  put  some  more  grapes  on  Shorty's  plate, 
and  drawing  a  cigar  from  his  waistcoat,  sent  it 
rolling  to  his  guest. 

"  Matches  are  behind  you,'1  he  added.  He  gave 
a  cigar  to  the  Virginian  as  an  afterthought,  but 
to  his  disgust,  the  Southerner  put  it  in  his  pocket 
and  lighted  a  pipe. 

Balaam  accompanied  his  guest,  Shorty,  when 
he  went  to  the  pasture  to  saddle  up  and  depart. 
"  Got  a  rope  ?  "  he  asked  the  guest,  as  they  lifted 
down  the  bars. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   LOST  DOG  289 

"  Don't  need  to  rope  him.  I  can  walk  right  up 
to  Pedro.  You  stay  back." 

Hiding  his  bridle  behind  him,  Shorty  walked 
to  the  river-bank,  where  the  pony  was  switching 
his  long  tail  in  the  shade ;  and  speaking  persua 
sively  to  him,  he  came  nearer,  till  he  laid  his  hand 
on  Pedro's  dusky  mane,  which  was  many  shades 
darker  than  his  hide.  He  turned  expectantly,  and 
his  master  came  up  to  his  expectations  with  a 
piece  of  bread. 

"  Eats  that,  does  he  ?  "  said  Balaam,  over  the 
bars. 

"  Likes  the  salt,"  said  Shorty.  "  Now,  n-n-ow, 
here !  Yu'  don't  guess  yu'll  be  bridled,  don't 
you  ?  Open  your  teeth !  Yu'd  like  to  play  yu' 
was  nobody's  horse  and  live  private  ?  Or  maybe 
yu'd  prefer  ownin'  a  saloon  ?  " 

Pedro  evidently  enjoyed  this  talk,  and  the 
dodging  he  made  about  the  bit.  Once  fairly  in 
his  mouth,  he  accepted  the  inevitable,  and  fol 
lowed  Shorty  .to  the  bars.  Then  Shorty  turned 
and  extended  his  hand. 

"  Shake  ! "  he  said  to  his  pony,  who  lifted  his 
forefoot  quietly  and  put  it  in  his  master's  hand. 
Then  the  master  tickled  his  nose,  and  he  wrinkled 
it  and  flattened  his  ears,  pretending  to  bite.  His 
face  wore  an  expression  of  knowing  relish  over 
this  performance.  "  Now  the  other  hoof,"  said 
Shorty ;  and  the  horse  and  master  shook  hands 
with  their  left.  "  I  learned  him  that,"  said  the  cow 
boy,  with  pride  and  affection.  "  Say,  Pede,"  he 
continued,  in  Pedro's  ear,  "  ain't  yu'  the  best  little 
horse  in  the  country  ?  What  ?  Here,  now ! 
Keep  out  of  that,  you  dead-beat !  There  ain't  no 


2 9o  THE   VIRGINIAN 

more  bread."  He  pinched  the  pony's  nose,  one- 
quarter  of  which  was  wedged  into  his  pocket. 

"  Quite  a  lady's  little  pet !  "  said  Balaam,  with 
the  rasp  in  his  voice  "  Pity  this  isn't  New  York, 
now,  where  there's  a  big  market  for  harmless 
horses.  Gee-gees,  the  children  call  them." 

"  He  ain't  no  gee-gee,"  said  Shorty,  offended. 
"  He'll  beat  any  cow-pony  workin'  you've  got.  Yu' 
can  turn  him  on  a  half-dollar.  Don't  need  to 
touch  the  reins.  Hang  'em  on  one  finger  and 
swing  your  body,  and  he'll  turn." 

Balaam  knew  this,  and  he  knew  that  the  pony 
was  only  a  four-year-old.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  Dry- 
bone's  had  no  circus  this  season.  Maybe  they'd 
buy  tickets  to  see  Pedro.  He's  good  for  that,  any 
way." 

Shorty  became  gloomy.  The  Virginian  was 
grimly  smoking.  Here  was  something  else  going 
on  not  to  his  taste,  but  none  of  his  business. 

"  Try  a  circus,"  persisted  Balaam.  "  Alter  your 
plans  for  spending  cash  in  town,  and  make  a  little 
money  instead." 

Shorty  having  no  plans  to  alter  and  no  cash  to 
spend,  grew  still  more  gloomy. 

"  What'll  you  take  for  that  pony  ?  "  said  Balaam. 

Shorty  spoke  up  instantly.  "  A  hundred  dol 
lars  couldn't  buy  that  piece  of  stale  mud  off  his 
back,"  he  asserted,  looking  off  into  the  sky  gran 
diosely. 

But  Balaam  looked  at  Shorty.  "  You  keep  the 
mud,"  he  said,  "  and  I'll  give  you  thirty  dollars  for 
the  horse." 

Shorty  did  a  little  professional  laughing,  and 
began  to  walk  toward  his  saddle. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   LOST   DOG  291 

"  Give  you  thirty  dollars,"  repeated  Balaam, 
picking  a  stone  up  and  slinging  it  into  the  river. 

"  How  far  do  yu'  call  it  to  Dry  bone  ?"  Shorty 
remarked,  stooping  to  investigate  the  bucking- 
strap  on  his  saddle  —  a  superfluous  performance, 
for  Pedro  never  bucked. 

"  You  won't  have  to  walk,"  said  Balaam.  "  Stay 
all  night,  and  I'll  send  you  over  comfortably  in  the 
morning,  when  the  wagon  goes  for  the  mail." 

"  Walk !"  Shorty  retorted.  "  Drybone's  twenty- 
five  miles.  Pedro '11  put  me  there  in  three  hours 
and  not  know  he  done  it."  ,  He  lifted  the  saddle 
on  the  horse's  back.  "  Come,  Pedro,"  said  he. 

"  Come,  Pedro ! "  mocked  Balaam. 

There  followed  a  little  silence. 

"  No,  sir,"  mumbled  Shorty,  with  his  head  under 
Pedro's  belly,  busily  cinching.  "  A  hundred  dol 
lars  is  bottom  figures." 

Balaam,  in  his  turn,  now  duly  performed  some 
professional  laughing,  which  was  noted  by  Shorty 
under  the  horse's  belly.  He  stood  up  and  squared 
round  on  Balaam.  "  Well,  then,"  he  said,  what'll 
yu'  give  for  him  ?  " 

"  Thirty  dollars,"  said  Balaam,  looking  far  off 
into  the  sky,  as  Shorty  had  looked. 

"  Oh,  come,  now,"  expostulated  Shorty. 

It  was  he  who  now  did  the  feeling  for  an  offer, 
and  this  was  what  Balaam  liked  to  see.  "  Why, 
yes,"  he  said,  "  thirty,"  and  looked  surprised  that 
he  should  have  to  mention  the  sum  so  often. 

"  I  thought  yu'd  quit  them  first  figures,"  said 
the  cow-puncher,  "  for  yu'  can  see  I  ain't  goin'  to 
look  at  'em." 

Balaam  climbed   on  the  fence  and  sat  there. 


292  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  I'm  not  crying  for  your  Pedro,"  he  observed  dis 
passionately.  "  Only  it  struck  me  you  were  dead 
broke,  and  wanted  to  raise  cash  and  keep  your 
self  going  till  you  hunted  up  a  job  and  could  buy 
him  back."  He  hooked  his  right  thumb  inside 
his  waistcoat  pocket.  "  But  I'm  not  cryin'  for 
him,"  he  repeated.  "  He'd  stay  right  here,  of 
course.  I  wouldn't  part  with  him.  Why  does 
he  stand  that  way  ?  Hello  !  "  Balaam  suddenly 
straightened  himself,  like  a  man  who  has  made  a 
discovery. 

"  Hello,  what  ?  "  said  Shorty,  on  the  defensive. 

Balaam  was  staring  at  Pedro  with  a  judicial 
frown.  Then  he  stuck  out  a  finger  at  the  horse, 
keeping  the  thumb  hooked  in  his  pocket.  So 
meagre  a  gesture  was  felt  by  the  ruffled  Shorty 
to  be  no  just  way  to  point  at  Pedro.  "  What's  the 
matter  with  that  foreleg  there  ?  "  said  Balaam. 

"Which?  Nothin's  the  matter  with  it!" 
snapped  Shorty. 

Balaam  climbed  down  from  his  fence  and  came 
over  with  elaborate  deliberation.  He  passed  his 
hand  up  and  down  the  off  foreleg.  Then  he  spit 
slenderly.  "  Mm  !  "  he  said  thoughtfully ;  and 
added,  with  a  shade  of  sadness,  "  that's  always  to 
be  expected  when  they're  worked  too  young." 

Shorty  slid  his  hand  slowly  over  the  disputed 
leg.  "What's  to  be  expected?"  he  inquired  — 
"  that  they'll  eat  hearty  ?  Well,  he  does." 

At  this  retort  the  Virginian  permitted  himself 
to  laugh  in  audible  sympathy. 

"  Sprung,"  continued  Balaam,  with  a  sigh. 
"  Whirling  round  short  when  his  bones  were 
soft  did  that.  Yes." 


PROGRESS  OF  THE   LOST   DOG  293 

"  Sprung !  "  Shorty  said,  with  a  bark  of  indigna 
tion.  "  Come  on,  Pede ;  you  and  me'll  spring  for 
town." 

He  caught  the  horn  of  the  saddle,  and  as  he 
swung  into  place  the  horse  rushed  away  with 
him.  "  O-ee  !  yoi-yup,  yup,  yup  !  "  sang  Shorty,  in 
the  shrill  cow  dialect.  He  made  Pedro  play  an 
exhibition  game  of  speed,  bringing  him  round 
close  to  Balaam  in  a  wide  circle,  and  then  he  van 
ished  in  dust  down  the  left-bank  trail. 

Balaam  looked  after  him  and  laughed  harshly. 
He  had  seen  trout  dash  about  like  that  when  the 
hook  in  their  jaw  first  surprised  them.  He  knew 
Shorty  would  show  the  pony  off,  and  he  knew 
Shorty's  love  for  Pedro  was  not  equal  to  his  need 
of  money.  He  called  to  one  of  his  men,  asked 
something  about  the  dam  at  the  mouth  of  the 
canon,  where  the  main  irrigation  ditch  began, 
made  a  remark  about  the  prolonged  drought,  and 
then  walked  to  his  dining-room  door,  where,  as  he 
expected,  Shorty  met  him. 

"  Say,"  said  the  youth,  "  do  you  consider  that's 
any  way  to  talk  about  a  good  horse  ? " 

"  Any  dude  could  see  the  leg's  sprung,"  said 
Balaam.  But  he  looked  at  Pedro's  shoulder, 
which  was  well  laid  back ;  and  he  admired  his 
points,  dark  in  contrast  with  the  buckskin,  and 
also  the  width  between  the  eyes. 

"  Now  you  know,"  whined  Shorty,  "  that  it  ain't 
sprung  any  more  than  your  leg's  cork.  If  you 
mean  the  right  leg  ain't  plumb  straight,  I  can  tell 
you  he  was  born  so.  That  don't  make  no  differ 
ence,  for  it  ain't  weak.  Try  him  onced.  Just  as 
sound  and  strong  as  iron.  Never  stumbles.  And 


294  THE  VIRGINIAN 

he  don't  never  go  to  jumpin'  with  yu'.  He's  kind 
and  he's  smart."  And  the  master  petted  his  pony, 
who  lifted  a  hoof  for  another  handshake. 

Of  course  Balaam  had  never  thought  the  leg 
was  sprung,  and  he  now  took  on  an  unprejudiced 
air  of  wanting  to  believe  Shorty's  statements  if  he 
only  could. 

"  Maybe  there's  two  years'  work  left  in  that 
leg,"  he  now  observed. 

"  Better  give  your  hawss  away,  Shorty,"  said 
the  Virginian. 

"  Is  this  your  deal,  my  friend  ?  "  inquired  Balaam. 
And  he  slanted  his  bullet  head  at  the  Virginian. 

"  Give  him  away,  Shorty,"  drawled  the  South 
erner.  "  His  laig  is  busted.  Mr.  Balaam  says 


so." 


Balaam's  face  grew  evil  with  baffled  fury.  But 
the  Virginian  was  gravely  considering  Pedro.  He, 
too,  was  not  pleased.  But  he  could  not  interfere. 
Already  he  had  overstepped  the  code  in  these  mat 
ters.  He  would  have  dearly  liked  —  for  reasons 
good  and  bad,  spite  and  mercy  mingled  —  to  have 
spoiled  Balaam's  market,  to  have  offered  a  rea 
sonable  or  even  an  unreasonable  price  for  Pedro, 
and  taken  possession  of  the  horse  himself.  But 
this  might  not  be.  In  bets,  in  card  games,  in  all 
horse  transactions  and  other  matters  of  similar 
business,  a  man  must  take  care  of  himself,  and 
wiser  onlookers  must  suppress  their  wisdom  and 
hold  their  peace. 

That  evening  Shorty  again  had  a  cigar.  He 
had  parted  with  Pedro  for  forty  dollars,  a  striped 
Mexican  blanket,  and  a  pair  of  spurs.  Undress 
ing  over  in  the  bunk  house,  he  said  to  the  Vir- 


PROGRESS   OF   THE   LOST  DOG  295 

ginian,  "  I'll  sure  buy  Pedro  back  off  him  just  as 
soon  as  ever  I  rustle  some  cash."  The  Virginian 
grunted.  He  was  thinking  he  should  have  to 
travel  hard  to  get  the  horses  to  the  Judge  by  the 
3Oth ;  and  below  that  thought  lay  his  aching  dis 
appointment  and  his  longing  for  Bear  Creek. 

In  the  early  dawn  Shorty  sat  up  among  his 
blankets  on  the  floor  of  the  bunk  house  and  saw 
the  various  sleepers  coiled  or  sprawled  in  their 
beds ;  their  breathing  had  not  yet  grown  restless 
at  the  nearing  of  day.  He  stepped  to  the  door 
carefully,  and  saw  the  crowding  blackbirds  begin 
their  walk  and  chatter  in  the  mud  of  the  littered 
and  trodden  corrals.  From  beyond  among  the 
cotton  woods,  came  continually  the  smooth  unem- 
phatic  sound  of  the  doves  answering  each  other 
invisibly;  and  against  the  empty  ridge  of  the 
river-bluff  lay  the  moon,  no  longer  shining,  for 
there  was  established  a  new  light  through  the 
sky.  Pedro  stood  in  the  pasture  close  to  the 
bars.  The  cowboy  slowly  closed  the  door  behind 
him,  and  sitting  down  on  the  step,  drew  his 
money  out  and  idly  handled  it,  taking  no  comfort 
just  then  from  its  possession.  Then  he  put  it 
back,  and  after  dragging  on  his  boots,  crossed  to 
the  pasture,  and  held  a  last  talk  with  his  pony, 
brushing  the  cakes  of  mud  from  his  hide  where 
he  had  rolled,  and  passing  a  lingering  hand  over 
his  mane.  As  the  sounds  of  the  morning  came 
increasingly  from  tree  and  plain,  Shorty  glanced 
back  to  see  that  no  one  was  yet  out  of  the  cabin, 
and  then  put  his  arms  round  the  horse's  neck, 
laying  his  head  against  him.  For  a  moment  the 
cowboy's  insignificant  face  was  exalted  by  the 


296  THE   VIRGINIAN 

emotion  he  would  never  have  let  others  see.  He 
hugged  tight  this  animal,  who  was  dearer  to  his 
heart  than  anybody  in  the  world. 

"  Good-by,  Pedro,"  he  said  —  "  good-by."  Pedro 
looked  for  bread. 

"  No,"  said  his  master,  sorrowfully,  "  not  any 
more.  Yu'  know  well  I'd  give  it  yu'  if  I  had  it. 
You  and  me  didn't  figure  on  this,  did  we,  Pedro? 
Good-by ! " 

He  hugged  his  pony  again,  and  got  as  far  as 
the  bars  of  the  pasture,  but  returned  once  more. 
"  Good-by,  my  little  horse,  my  dear  horse,  my 
little,  little  Pedro,"  he  said,  as  his  tears  wet  the 
pony's  neck.  Then  he  wiped  them  with  his 
hand,  and  got  himself  back  to  the  bunk  house. 
After  breakfast  he  and  his  belongings  departed 
to  Drybone,  and  Pedro  from  his  field  calmly 
watched  this  departure ;  for  horses  must  recog 
nize  even  less  than  men  the  black  corners  that 
their  destinies  turn.  The  pony  stopped  feeding  to 
look  at  the  mail-wagon  pass  by ;  but  the  master 
sitting  in  the  wagon  forebore  to  turn  his  head. 


XXVI 

BALAAM    AND    PEDRO 

RESIGNED  to  wait  for  the  Judge's  horses,  Balaam 
went  into  his  office  this  dry,  bright  morning  and 
read  nine  accumulated  newspapers ;  for  he  was 
behindhand.  Then  he  rode  out  on  the  ditches, 
and  met  his  man  returning  with  the  troublesome 
animals  at  last.  He  hastened  home  and  sent  for 
the  Virginian.  He  had  made  a  decision. 

"  See  here,"  he  said ;  "  those  horses  are  coming. 
What  trail  would  you  take  over  to  the  Judge's? " 

"  Shortest  trail's  right  through  the  Bow  Laig 
Mountains,"  said  the  foreman,  in  his  gentle  voice. 

"  Guess  you're  right.  It's  dinner-time.  We'll 
start  right  afterward.  We'll  make  Little  Muddy 
Crossing  by  sundown,  and  Sunk  Creek  to-morrow, 
and  the  next  day '11  see  us  through.  Can  a  wagon 
get  through  Sunk  Creek  Canon  ?  " 

The  Virginian  smiled.  "  I  reckon  it  can't,  seh, 
and  stay  resembling  a  wagon." 

Balaam  told  them  to  saddle  Pedro  and  one 
packhorse,  and  drive  the  bunch  of  horses  into  a 
corral,  roping  the  Judge's  two,  who  proved  ex 
tremely  wild.  He  had  decided  to  take  this  jour 
ney  himself  on  remembering  certain  politics  soon 
to  be  rife  in  Cheyenne.  For  Judge  Henry  was 
indeed  a  greater  man  than  Balaam. 

297 


298  THE   VIRGINIAN 

This  personally  conducted  return  of  the  horses 
would  temper  its  tardiness,  and,  moreover,  the 
sight  of  some  New  York  visitors  would  be  a  good 
thing  after  seven  months  of  no  warmer  touch  with 
that  metropolis  than  the  Sunday  Herald,  always 
eight  days  old  when  it  reached  the  Butte  Creek 
Ranch. 

They  forded  Butte  Creek,  and,  crossing  the 
well-travelled  trail  which  follows  down  to  Dry- 
bone,  turned  their  faces  toward  the  uninhabited 
country  that  began  immediately,  as  the  ocean  be 
gins  off  a  sandy  shore.  And  as  a  single  mast  on 
which  no  sail  is  shining  stands  at  the  horizon  and 
seems  to  add  a  loneliness  to  the  surrounding  sea, 
so  the  long  gray  line  of  fence,  almost  a  mile  away, 
that  ended  Balaam's  land  on  this  side  the  creek, 
stretched  along  the  waste  ground  and  added  deso 
lation  to  the  plain.  No  solitary  watercourse  with 
margin  of  cottonwoods  or  willow  thickets  flowed 
here  to  stripe  the  dingy,  yellow  world  with  inter 
rupting  green,  nor  were  cattle  to  be  seen  dotting 
the  distance,  nor  moving  objects  at  all,  nor  any 
bird  in  the  soundless  air.  The  last  gate  was  shut 
by  the  Virginian,  who  looked  back  at  the  pleasant 
trees  of  the  ranch,  and  then  followed  on  in  single 
file  across  the  alkali  of  No  Man's  Land. 

No  cloud  was  in  the  sky.  The  desert's  grim 
noon  shone  sombrely  on  flat  and  hill.  The  sage 
brush  was  dull  like  zinc.  Thick  heat  rose  near  at 
hand  from  the  caked  alkali,  and  pale  heat  shrouded 
the  distant  peaks. 

There  were  five  horses.     Balaam  led  on  Pedn 
his  squat  figure  stiff  in  the  saddle,  but  solid  as  a 
rock,  and  tilted  a  little  forward,  as  his  habit  was 


i 


BALAAM   AND    PEDRO  299 

One  of  the  Judge's  horses  came  next,  a  sorrel, 
dragging  back  continually  on  the  rope  by  which 
he  was  led.  After  him  ambled  Balaam's  wise 
pack-animal,  carrying  the  light  burden  of  two 
days'  food  and  lodging.  She  was  an  old  mare 
who  could  still  go  when  she  chose,  but  had  been 
schooled  by  the  years,  and  kept  the  trail,  giving 
no  trouble  to  the  Virginian  who  came  behind  her. 
He  also  sat  solid  as  a  rock,  yet  subtly  bending  to 
the  struggles  of  the  wild  horse  he  led,  as  a  steel 
spring  bends  and  balances  and  resumes  its  poise. 

Thus  they  made  but  slow  time,  and  when  they 
topped  the  last  dull  rise  of  ground  and  looked 
down  on  the  long  slant  of  ragged,  caked  earth  to 
the  crossing  of  Little  Muddy,  with  its  single  tree 
and  few  mean  bushes,  the  final  distance  where  eye 
sight  ends  had  deepened  to  violet  from  the  thin, 
steady  blue  they  had  stared  at  for  so  many  hours, 
and  all  heat  was  gone  from  the  universal  dryness. 
The  horses  drank  a  long  time  from  the  sluggish 
yellow  water,  and  its  alkaline  taste  and  warmth 
were  equally  welcome  to  the  men.  They  built  a 
little  fire,  and  when  supper  was  ended,  smoked 
but  a  short  while  and  in  silence,  before  they  got 
in  the  blankets  that  were  spread  in  a  smooth  place 
beside  the  water. 

They  had  picketed  the  two  horses  of  the  Judge 
in  the  best  grass  they  could  find,  letting  the  rest 
go  free  to  find  pasture  where  they  could.  When 
the  first  light  came,  the  Virginian  attended  to 
breakfast,  while  Balaam  rode  away  on  the  sorrel 
to  bring  in  the  loose  horses.  They  had  gone  far 
out  of  sight,  and  when  he  returned  with  them, 
after  some  two  hours,  he  was  on  Pedro.  Pedro 


3oo  THE  VIRGINIAN 

was  soaking  with  sweat,  and  red  froth  creamed 
from  his  mouth.  The  Virginian  saw  the  horses 
must  have  been  hard  to  drive  in,  especially  after 
Balaam  brought  them  the  wild  sorrel  as  a  leader. 

"  If  you'd  kep'  ridin'  him,  'stead  of  changin'  off 
on  your  hawss,  they'd  have  behaved  quieter,"  said 
the  foreman. 

"  That's  good  seasonable  advice,"  said  Balaam, 
sarcastically.  "  I  could  have  told  you  that  now." 

"  I  could  have  told  you  when  you  started,"  said 
the  Virginian,  heating  the  coffee  for  Balaam. 

Balaam  was  eloquent  on  the  outrageous  con 
duct  of  the  horses.  He  had  come  up  with  them 
evidently  striking  back  for  Butte  Creek,  with  the 
old  mare  in  the  lead. 

"  But  I  soon  showed  her  the  road  she  was  to 
go,"  he  said,  as  he  drove  them  now  to  the  water. 

The  Virginian  noticed  the  slight  limp  of  the 
mare,  and  how  her  pastern  was  cut  as  if  with  a 
stone  or  the  sharp  heel  of  a  boot. 

"  I  guess  she'll  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  travel  except 
when  she's  wanted  to,"  continued  Balaam.  He 
sat  down,  and  sullenly  poured  himself  some  coffee. 
"  We'll  be  in  luck  if  we  make  any  Sunk  Creek 
this  night." 

He  went  on  with  his  breakfast,  thinking  aloud 
for  the  benefit  of  his  companion,  who  made  no 
comments,  preferring  silence  to  the  discomfort  of 
talking  with  a  man  whose  vindictive  humor  was 
so  thoroughly  uppermost.  He  did  not  even  listen 
very  attentively,  but  continued  his  preparations 
for  departure,  washing  the  dishes,  rolling  the 
blankets,  and  moving  about  in  his  usual  way  of 
easy  and  visible  good  nature. 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  301 

"Six  o'clock,  already,"  said  Balaam,  saddling  the 
horses.  "  And  we'll  not  get  started  for  ten  min 
utes  more."  Then  he  came  to  Pedro.  "  So  you 
haven't  quit  fooling  yet,  haven't  you  ?  "  he  ex 
claimed,  for  the  pony  shrank  as  he  lifted  the 
bridle.  "  Take  that  for  your  sore  mouth !  "  and 
he  rammed  the  bit  in,  at  which  Pedro  flung  back 
and  reared. 

"  Well,  I  never  saw  Pedro  act  that  way  yet," 
said  the  Virginian. 

"  Ah,  rubbish  !  "  said  Balaam.  "  They're  all  the 
same.  Not  a  bastard  one  but's  laying  for  his 
chance  to  do  for  you.  Some'll  buck  you  off,  and 
some'll  roll  with  you,  and  some'll  fight  you  with 
their  fore  feet.  They  may  play  good  for  a  year, 
but  the  Western  pony's  man's  enemy,  and  when 
he  judges  he's  got  his  chance,  he's  going  to  do 
his  best.  And  if  you  come  out  alive  it  won't  be 
his  fault."  Balaam  paused  for  a  while,  packing. 
"  You've  got  to  keep  them  afraid  of  you,"  he  said 
next ;  "  that's  what  you've  got  to  do  if  you  don't 
want  trouble.  That  Pedro  horse  there  has  been 
fed,  hand-fed,  and  fooled  with  like  a  damn  pet, 
and  what's  that  policy  done  ?  Why,  he  goes  ugly 
when  he  thinks  it's  time,  and  decides  he'll  not 
drive  any  horses  into  camp  this  morning.  He 
knows  better  now." 

"Mr.  Balaam,"  said  the  Virginian,  "I'll  buy 
that  hawss  off  yu'  right  now." 

Balaam  shook  his  head.  "  You'll  not  do  that 
right  now  or  any  other  time,"  said  he.  "  I 
happen  to  want  him." 

The  Virginian  could  do  no  more.  He  had 
heard  cow-punchers  say  to  refractory  ponies, 


302  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  You  keep  still,  or  I'll  Balaam  you !  "  and  he 
now  understood  the  aptness  of  the  expression. 

Meanwhile  Balaam  began  to  lead  Pedro  to 
the  creek  for  a  last  drink  before  starting  across 
the  torrid  drought.  The  horse  held  back  on  the 
rein  a  little,  and  Balaam  turned  and  cut  the  wrhip 
across  his  forehead.  A  delay  of  forcing  and 
backing  followed,  while  the  Virginian,  already 
in  the  saddle,  waited.  The  minutes  passed,  and 
no  immediate,  prospect,  apparently,  of  getting 
nearer  Sunk  Creek. 

"  He  ain'  goin'  to  follow  you  while  you're  beat- 
in'  his  haid,"  the  Southerner  at  length  remarked. 

"  Do  you  think  you  can  teach  me  anything 
about  horses?"  retorted  Balaam. 

"Well,  it  don't  look  like  I  could,"  said  the 
Virginian,  lazily. 

"  Then  don't  try  it,  so  long  as  it's  not  your 
horse,  my  friend." 

Again  the  Southerner  levelled  his  eye  on 
Balaam.  "All  right,"  he  said,  in  the  same 
gentle  voice.  "  And  don't  you  call  me  your 
friend.  You've  made  that  mistake  twiced." 

The  road  was  shadeless,  as  it  had  been  from 
the  start,  and  they  could  not  travel  fast.  During 
the  first  few  hours  all  coolness  was  driven  out 
of  the  glassy  morning,  and  another  day  of  illimit 
able  sun  invested  the  world  with  its  blaze.  The 
pale  Bow  Leg  Range  was  coming  nearer,  but  its 
hard  hot  slants  and  rifts  suggested  no  sort  of 
freshness,  and  even  the  pines  that  spread  for 
wide  miles  along  near  the  summit  counted  for 
nothing  in  the  distance  and  the  glare,  but  seemed 
mere  patches  of  dull  dry  discoloration.  No  talk 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  303 

was  exchanged  between  the  two  travellers,  for 
the  cow-puncher  had  nothing  to  say  and  Balaam 
was  sulky,  so  they  moved  along  in  silent  endur 
ance  of  each  other's  company  and  the  tedium  of 
the  journey. 

But  the  slow  succession  of  rise  and  fall  in  the 
plain  changed  and  shortened.  The  earth's  sur 
face  became  lumpy,  rising  into  mounds  and 
knotted  systems  of  steep  small  hills  cut  apart 
by  staring  gashes  of  sand,  where  water  poured 
in  the  spring  from  the  melting  snow.  After  a 
time  they  ascended  through  the  foot-hills  till 
the  plain  below  was  for  a  while  concealed,  but 
came  again  into  view  in  its  entirety,  distant  and 
a  thing  of  the  past,  while  some  magpies  sailed 
down  to  meet  them  from  the  new  country  they 
were  entering.  They  passed  up  through  a 
small  transparent  forest  of  dead  trees  standing 
stark  and  white,  and  a  little  higher  came  on  a 
line  of  narrow  moisture  that  crossed  the  way 
and  formed  a  stale  pool  among  some  willow 
thickets.  They  turned  aside  to  water  their 
horses,  and  found  near  the  pool  a  circular  spot  of 
ashes  and  some  poles  lying,  and  beside  these  a  cage- 
like  edifice  of  willow  wands  built  in  the  ground. 

"  Indian  camp,"  observed  the  Virginian. 

There  were  the  tracks  of  five  or  six  horses 
on  the  farther  side  of  the  pool,  and  they  did  not 
come  into  the  trail,  but  led  off  among  the  rocks 
on  some  system  of  their  own. 

"  They're  about  a  week  old,"  said  Balaam. 
"  It's  part  of  that  outfit  that's  been  hunting." 

"  They've  gone  on  to  visit  their  friends,"  added 
the  cow-puncher. 


304  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  Yes,  on  the  Southern  Reservation.  How  far 
do  you  call  Sunk  Creek  now? " 

"  Well,"  said  the  Virginian,  calculating,  "  it's 
mighty  nigh  fo'ty  miles  from  Muddy  Crossin', 
an'  I  reckon  we've  come  eighteen." 

"  Just  about.  It's  noon."  Balaam  snapped  his 
watch  shut.  "  We'll  rest  here  till  12.30." 

When  it  was  time  to  go,  the  Virginian  looked 
musingly  at  the  mountains.  "  We'll  need  to 
travel  right  smart  to  get  through  the  canon 
to-night,"  he  said. 

"  Tell  you  what,"  said  Balaam ;  "  we'll  rope  the 
Judge's  horses  together  and  drive  'em  in  front  of 
us.  That'll  make  speed." 

"  Mightn't  they  get  away  on  us  ?  "  objected  the 
Virginian.  "  They're  pow'ful  wild." 

"  They  can't  get  away  from  me,  I  guess,"  said 
Balaam,  and  the  arrangement  was  adopted. 
"  We're  the  first  this  season  over  this  piece  of 
the  trail,"  he  observed  presently. 

His  companion  had  noticed  the  ground  already, 
and  assented.  There  were  no  tracks  anywhere 
to  be  seen  over  which  winter  had  not  come  and 
gone  since  they  had  been  made.  Presently  the 
trail  wound  into  a  sultry  gulch  that  hemmed  in 
the  heat  and  seemed  to  draw  down  the  sun's 
rays  more  vertically.  The  sorrel  horse  chose 
this  place  to  make  a  try  for  liberty.  He  sud 
denly  whirled  from  the  trail,  dragging  with  him 
his  less  inventive  fellow.  Leaving  the  Virginian 
with  the  old  mare,  Balaam  headed  them  off,  for 
Pedro  was  quick,  and  they  came  jumping  down 
the  bank  together,  but  swiftly  crossed  up  on  the 
other  side,  getting  much  higher  before  they  could 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  305 

be  reached.  It  was  no  place  for  this  sort  of  game, 
as  the  sides  of  the  ravine  were  ploughed  with  steep 
channels,  broken  with  jutting  knobs  of  rock,  and 
impeded  by  short  twisted  pines  that  swung  out 
from  their  roots  horizontally  over  the  pitch  of 
the  hill.  The  Virginian  helped,  but  used  his 
horse  with  more  judgment,  keeping  as  much  on 
the  level  as  possible,  and  endeavoring  to  antici 
pate  the  next  turn  of  the  runaways  before  they 
made  it,  while  Balaam  attempted  to  follow  them 
close,  wheeling  short  when  they  doubled,  heavily 
beating  up  the  face  of  the  slope,  veering  again  to 
come  down  to  the  point  he  had  left,  and  whenever 
he  felt  Pedro  begin  to  flag,  driving  his  spurs  into 
the  horse  and  forcing  him  to  keep  up  the  pace. 
He  had  set  out  to  overtake  and  capture  on  the 
side  of  the  mountain  these  two  animals  who  had 
been  running  wild  for  many  weeks,  and  now  car 
ried  no  weight  but  themselves,  and  the  futility  of 
such  work  could  not  penetrate  his  obstinate  and 
rising  temper.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  not 
to  give  in.  The  Virginian  soon  decided  to  move 
slowly  along  for  the  present,  preventing  the  wild 
horses  from  passing  down  the  gulch  again,  but 
otherwise  saving  his  own  animal  from  useless 
fatigue.  He  saw  that  Pedro  was  reeking  wet, 
with  mouth  open,  and  constantly  stumbling, 
though  he  galloped  on.  The  cow-puncher  kept 
the  group  in  sight,  driving  the  packhorse  in 
front  of  him,  and  watching  the  tactics  of  the 
sorrel,  who  had  now  undoubtedly  become  the 
leader  of  the  expedition,  and  was  at  the  top  of 
the  gulch,  in  vain  trying  to  find  an  outlet 
through  its  rocky  rim  to  the  levels  above.  He 


306  THE   VIRGINIAN 

soon  judged  this  to  be  no  thoroughfare,  and 
changing  his  plan,  trotted  down  to  the  bottom 
and  up  the  other  side,  gaining  more  and  more; 
for  in  this  new  descent  Pedro  had  fallen  twice. 
Then  the  sorrel  showed  the  cleverness  of  a 
genuinely  vicious  horse.  The  Virginian  saw 
him  stop  and  fall  to  kicking  his  companion  with 
all  the  energy  that  a  short  rope  would  permit. 
The  rope  slipped,  and  both,  unencumbered, 
reached  the  top  and  disappeared.  Leaving  the 
packhorse  for  Balaam,  the  Virginian  started 
after  them  and  came  into  a  high  tableland, 
beyond  which  the  mountains  began  in  earnest. 
The  runaways  were  moving  across  toward  these 
at  an  easy  rate.  He  followed  for  a  moment, 
then  looking  back,  and  seeing  no  sign  of  Balaam, 
waited,  for  the  horses  were  sure  not  to  go  fast 
when  they  reached  good  pasture  or  water. 

He  got  out  of  the  saddle  and  sat  on  the  ground, 
watching,  till  the  mare  came  up  slowly  into  sight, 
and  Balaam  behind  her.  When  they  were  near, 
Balaam  dismounted  and  struck  Pedro  fearfully, 
until  the  stick  broke,  and  he  raised  the  splintered 
half  to  continue. 

Seeing  the  pony's  condition,  the  Virginian 
spoke,  and  said,  "  I'd  let  that  hawss  alone." 

Balaam  turned  to  him,  but  wholly  possessed  by 
passion  did  not  seem  to  hear,  and  the  Southerner 
noticed  how  white  and  like  that  of  a  maniac  his 
face  was.  The  stick  slid  to  the  ground. 

"  He  played  he  was  tired,"  said  Balaam,  looking 
at  the  Virginian  with  glazed  eyes.  The  violence 
of  his  rage  affected  him  physically,  like  some 
stroke  of  illness.  "  He  played  out  on  me  on  pur- 


I 


BALAAM   AND    PEDRO  307 

pose."  The  man's  voice  was  dry  and  light. 
"  He's  perfectly  fresh  now,"  he  continued,  and 
turned  again  to  the  coughing,  swaying  horse, 
whose  eyes  were  closed.  Not  having  the  stick, 
he  seized  the  animal's  unresisting  head  and  shook 
it.  The  Virginian  watched  him  a  moment,  and 
rose  to  stop  such  a  spectacle.  Then,  as  if  con 
scious  he  was  doing  no  real  hurt,  Balaam  ceased, 
and  turning  again  in  slow  fashion  looked  across 
the  level,  where  the  runaways  were  still  visible. 

"  I'll  have  to  take  your  horse,"  he  said,  "  mine's 
played  out  on  me." 

"  You  ain'  goin'  to  touch  my  hawss." 

Again  the  words  seemed  not  entirely  to  reach 
Balaam's  understanding,  so  dulled  by  rage  were 
his  senses.  He  made  no  answer,  but  mounted 
Pedro ;  and  the  failing  pony  walked  mechanically 
forward,  while  the  Virginian,  puzzled,  stood  look 
ing  after  him.  Balaam  seemed  without  purpose 
of  going  anywhere,  and  stopped  in  a  moment. 
Suddenly  he  was  at  work  at  something.  This 
sight  was  odd  and  new  to  look  at.  For  a  few 
seconds  it  had  no  meaning  to  the  Virginian  as 
he  watched.  Then  his  mind  grasped  the  horror, 
too  late.  Even  with  his  cry  of  execration  and 
the  tiger  spring  that  he  gave  to  stop  Balaam,  the 
monstrosity  was  wrought.  Pedro  sank  motion 
less,  his  head  rolling  flat  on  the  earth.  Balaam 
was  jammed  beneath  him.  The  man  had  strug 
gled  to  his  feet  before  the  Virginian  reached  the 
spot,  and  the  horse  then  lifted  his  head  and  turned 
it  piteously  round. 

Then  vengeance  like  a  blast  struck  Balaam. 
The  Virginian  hurled  him  to  the  ground,  lifted 


3o8  THE  VIRGINIAN 

and  hurled  him  again,  lifted  him  and  beat  his 
face  and  struck  his  jaw.  The  man's  strong  ox- 
like  righting  availed  nothing.  He  fended  his 
eyes  as  best  he  could  against  these  sledge-ham 
mer  blows  of  justice.  He  felt  blindly  for  his 
pistol.  That  arm  was  caught  and  wrenched 
backward,  and  crushed  and  doubled.  He  seemed 
to  hear  his  own  bones,  and  set  up  a  hideous 
screaming  of  hate  and  pain.  Then  the  pistol  at 
last  came  out,  and  together  with  the  hand  that 
grasped  it  was  instantly  stamped  into  the  dust. 
Once  ,again  the  creature  was  lifted  and  slung  so 
that  he  lay  across  Pedro's  saddle  a  blurred,  dingy, 
wet  pulp. 

Vengeance  had  come  and  gone.  The  man 
and  the  horse  were  motionless.  Around  them, 
silence  seemed  to  gather  like  a  witness. 

"  If  you  are  dead,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  I  am 
glad  of  it."  He  stood  looking  down  at  Balaam 
and  Pedro,  prone  in  the  middle  of  the  open  table 
land.  Then  he  saw  Balaam  looking  at  him.  It 
was  the  quiet  stare  of  sight  without  thought  or 
feeling,  the  mere  visual  sense  alone,  almost  fright 
ful  in  its  separation  from  any  self.  But  as  he 
watched  those  eyes,  the  self  came  back  into  them. 
"  I  have  not  killed  you,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Well,  I  ain't  goin'  to  go  any  more  to  yu'  —  if 
that's  a  satisfaction  to  know." 

Then  he  began  to  attend  to  Balaam  with  im 
personal  skill,  like  some  one  hired  for  the  purpose. 
"  He  ain't  hurt  bad,"  he  asserted  aloud,  as  if  the 
man  were  some  nameless  patient ;  and  then  to 
Balaam  he  remarked,  "  I  reckon  it  might  have 
put  a  less  tough  man  than  you  out  of  business 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  309 

for  quite  a  while.  I'm  goin'  to  get  some  water 
now."  When  he  returned  with  the  water,  Balaam 
was  sitting  up,  looking  about  him..  He  had  not 
yet  spoken,  nor  did  he  now  speak.  The  sunlight 
flashed  on  the  six-shooter  where  it  lay,  and  the 
Virginian  secured  it.  u  She  ain't  so  pretty  as 
she  was,"  he  remarked,  as  he  examined  the 
weapon.  "  But  she'll  go  right  handy  yet." 

Strength  was  in  a  measure  returning  to  Pedro. 
He  was  a  young  horse,  and  the  exhaustion  neither 
of  anguish  nor  of  over-riding  was  enough  to  affect 
him  long  or  seriously.  He  got  himself  on  his 
feet  and  walked  waveringly  over  to  the  old  mare, 
and  stood  by  her  for  comfort.  The  cow-puncher 
came  up  to  him,  and  Pedro,  after  starting  back 
slightly,  seemed  to  comprehend  that  he  was  in 
friendly  hands.  It  was  plain  that  he  would  soon 
be  able  to  travel  slowly  if  no  weight  was  on  him, 
and  that  he  would  be  a  very  good  horse  again. 
Whether  they  abandoned  the  runaways  or  not, 
there  was  no  staying  here  for  night  to  overtake 
them  without  food  or  water.  The  day  was  still 
high,  and  what  its  next  few  hours  had  in  store 
the  Virginian  could  not  say,  and  he  left  them  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  determining  meanwhile 
that  he  would  take  command  of  the  minutes  and 
maintain  the  position  he  had  assumed  both  as  to 
Balaam  and  Pedro.  He  took  Pedro's  saddle  off, 
threw  the  mare's  pack  to  the  ground,  put  Balaam's 
saddle  on  her,  and  on  that  stowed  or  tied  her 
original  pack,  which  he  could  do,  since  it  was  so 
light*.  Then  he  went  to  Balaam,  who  was  sitting 
up. 

"  I  reckon  you  can  travel,"  said  the  Virginian. 


3 io  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  And  your  hawss  can.  If  you're  comin'  with  me, 
you'll  ride  your  mare.  I'm  goin'  to  trail  them 
hawsses.  If  you're  not  comin'  with  me,  your 
hawss  comes  with  me,  and  you'll  take  fifty  dollars 
for  him." 

Balaam  was  indifferent  to  this  good  bargain. 
He  did  not  look  at  the  other  or  speak,  but  rose 
and  searched  about  him  on  the  ground.  The 
Virginian  was  also  indifferent  as  to  whether 
Balaam  chose  to  answer  or  not.  Seeing  Balaam 
searching  the  ground,  he  finished  what  he  had  to 
say. 

"  I  have  your  six-shooter,  and  you'll  have  it 
when  I'm  ready  for  you  to.  Now,  I'm  goin',"  he 
concluded. 

Balaam's  intellect  was  clear  enough  now,  and 
he  saw  that  though  the  rest  of  this  journey  would 
be  nearly  intolerable,  it  must  go  on.  He  looked 
at  the  impassive  cow-puncher  getting  ready  to  go 
and  tying  a  rope  on  Pedro's  neck  to  lead  him, 
then  he  looked  at  the  mountains  where  the  run 
aways  had  vanished,  and  it  did  not  seem  credible 
to  him  that  he  had  come  into  such  straits.  He 
was  helped  stiffly  on  the  mare,  and  the  three 
horses  in  single  file  took  up  their  journey  once 
more,  and  came  slowly  among  the  mountains. 
The  perpetual  desert  was  ended,  and  they  crossed 
a  small  brook,  where  they  missed  the  trail.  The 
Virginian  dismounted  to  find  where  the  horses 
had  turned  off,  and  discovered  that  they  had  gone 
straight  up  the  ridge  by  the  watercourse. 

"  There's  been  a  man  camped  in  hyeh  inside 
a  month,"  he  said,  kicking  up  a  rag  of  red 
flannel. 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  311 

"  White  man  and  two  hawsses.  Ours  have 
went  up  his  old  tracks." 

It  was  not  easy  for  Balaam  to  speak  yet,  and  he 
kept  his  silence.  But  he  remembered  that  Shorty 
had  spoken  of  a  trapper  who  had  started  for 
Sunk  Creek. 

For  three  hours  they  followed  the  runaways' 
course  over  softer  ground,  and  steadily  ascending, 
passed  one  or  two  springs,  at  length,  where  the 
mud  was  not  yet  settled  in  the  hoof-prints.  Then 
they  came  through  a  corner  of  pine  forest  and 
down  a  sudden  bank  among  quaking-asps  to  a 
green  park.  Here  the  runaways  beside  a  stream 
were  grazing  at  ease,  but  saw  them  coming,  and 
started  on  again,  following  down  the  stream. 
For  the  present  all  to  be  done  was  to  keep  them 
in  sight.  This  creek  received  tributaries  and 
widened,  making  a  valley  for  itself.  Above  the 
bottom,  lining  the  first  terrace  of  the  ridge,  began 
the  pines,  and  stretched  back,  unbroken  over  in 
tervening  summit  and  basin,  to  cease  at  last  where 
the  higher  peaks  presided. 

"  This  hyeh's  the  middle  fork  of  Sunk  Creek," 
said  the  Virginian.  "  We'll  get  on  to  our  right 
road  again  where  they  join." 

Soon  a  game  trail  marked  itself  along  the 
stream.  If  this  would  only  continue,  the  run 
aways  would  be  nearly  ,sure  to  follow  it  down 
into  the  canon.  Then  there  would  be  no  way  for 
them  but  to  go  on  and  come  out  into  their  own 
country,  where  they  would  make  for  the  Judge's 
ranch  of  their  own  accord.  The  great  point  was 
to  reach  the  canon  before  dark.  They  passed  into 
permanent  shadow ;  for  though  the  other  side  of 


3i2  THE  VIRGINIAN 

the  creek  shone  in  full  day,  the  sun  had  departed 
behind  the  ridges  immediately  above  them.  Cool 
ness  filled  the  air,  and  the  silence,  which  in  this 
deep  valley  of  invading  shadow  seemed  too  silent, 
was  relieved  by  the  birds.  Not  birds  of  song,  but 
a  freakish  band  of  gray  talkative  observers,  who 
came  calling  and  croaking  along  through  the 
pines,  and  inspected  the  cavalcade,  keeping  it 
company  for  a  while,  and  then  flying  up  into  the 
woods  again.  The  travellers  came  round  a  cor 
ner  on  a  little  spread  of  marsh,  and  from  some 
where  in  the  middle  of  it  rose  a  buzzard  and  sailed 
on  its  black  pinions  into  the  air  above  them,  wheel 
ing  and  wheeling,  but  did  not  grow  distant.  As 
it  swept  over  the  trail,  something  fell  from  its  claw, 
a  rag  of  red  flannel ;  and  each  man  in  turn  looked 
at  it  as  his  horse  went  by. 

"  I  wonder  if  there's  plenty  elk  and  deer  hyeh  ? " 
said  the  Virginian. 

"  I  guess  there  is,"  Balaam  replied,  speaking  at 
last.  The  travellers  had  become  strangely  recon 
ciled. 

"  There's  game  'most  all  over  these  mountains," 
the  Virginian  continued ;  "  country  not  been  set 
tled  long  enough  to  scare  them  out."  So  they  fell 
into  casual  conversation,  and  for  the  first  time 
were  glad  of  each  other's  company. 

The  sound  of  a  new  bird  came  from  the  pines 
above  —  the  hoot  of  an  owl  —  and  was  answered 
from  some  other  part  of  the  wood.  This  they  did 
not  particularly  notice  at  first,  but  soon  they  heard 
the  same  note,  unexpectedly  distant,  like  an  echo. 
The  game  trail,  now  quite  a  defined  path  beside 
the  river,  showed  no  sign  of  changing  its  course 


BALAAM   AND   PEDRO  313 

or  fading  out  into  blank  ground,  as  these  uncer 
tain  guides  do  so  often.  It  led  consistently  in  the 
desired  direction,  and  the  two  men  were  relieved 
to  see  it  continue.  Not  only  were  the  runaways 
easier  to  keep  track  of,  but  better  speed  was  made 
along  this  valley.  The  pervading  imminence  of 
night  more  and  more  dispelled  the  lingering  after 
noon,  though  there  was  yet  no  twilight  in  the 
open,  and  the  high  peaks  opposite  shone  yellow 
in  the  invisible  sun.  But  now  the  owls  hooted 
again.  Their  music  had  something  in  it  that 
caused  both  the  Virginian  and  Balaam  to  look  up 
at  the  pines  and  wish  that  this  valley  would  end. 
Perhaps  it  was  early  for  night-birds  to  begin ;  or 
perhaps  it  was  that  the  sound  never  seemed  to  fall 
behind,  but  moved  abreast  of  them  among  the 
trees  above,  as  they  rode  on  without  pause  down 
below ;  some  influence  made  the  faces  of  the  trav 
ellers  grave.  The  spell  of  evil  which  the  sight  of 
the  wheeling  buzzard  had  begun,  deepened  as 
evening  grew,  while  ever  and  again  along  the 
creek  the  singular  call  and  answer  of  the  owls 
wandered  among  the  darkness  of  the  trees  not  far 
away. 

The  sun  was  gone  from  the  peaks  when  at 
length  the  other  side  of  the  stream  opened  into  a 
long  wide  meadow.  The  trail  they  followed,  after 
crossing  a  flat  willow  thicket  by  the  water,  ran 
into  dense  pines,  that  here  for  the  first  time 
reached  all  the  way  down  to  the  water's  edge. 
The  two  men  came  out  of  the  willows,  and  saw 
ahead  the  capricious  runaways  leave  the  bottom 
and  go  up  the  hill  and  enter  the  wood. 

"  We  must  hinder  that,"  said  the  Virginian ; 


3i4  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  he  dropped  Pedro's  rope.  "  There's  your  six- 
shooter.  You  keep  the  trail,  and  camp  down 
there "  —  he  pointed  to  where  the  trees  came  to 
the  water  —  "  till  I  head  them  hawsses  off.  I  may 
not  get  back  right  away."  He  galloped  up  the 
open  hill  and  went  into  the  pine,  choosing  a  place 
above  where  the  vagrants  had  disappeared. 

Balaam  dismounted,  and  picking  up  his  six- 
shooter,  took  the  rope  off  Pedro's  neck  and  drove 
him  slowly  down  toward  where  the  wood  began. 
Its  interior  was  already  dim,  and  Balaam  saw  that 
here  must  be  their  stopping-place  to-night,  since 
there  was  no  telling  how  wide  this  pine  strip 
might  extend  along  the  trail  before  they  could 
come  out  of  it  and  reach  another  suitable  camp 
ing-ground.  Pedro  had  recovered  his  strength, 
and  he  now  showed  signs  of  restlessness.  He 
shied  where  there  was  not  even  a  stone  in  the 
trail,  and  finally  turned  sharply  round.  Balaam 
expected  he  was  going  to  rush  back  on  the  way 
they  had  come ;  but  the  horse  stood  still,  breath 
ing  excitedly.  He  was  urged  forward  again, 
though  he  turned  more  than  once.  But  when 
they  were  a  few  paces  from  the  wood,  and  Balaam 
had  got  off  preparatory  to  camping,  the  horse 
snorted  and  dashed  into  the  water,  and  stood  still 
there.  The  astonished  Balaam  followed  to  turn 
him ;  but  Pedro  seemed  to  lose  control  of  himself, 
and  plunged  to  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  was 
evidently  intending  to  cross.  Fearing  that  he 
would  escape  to  the  opposite  meadow  and  add  to 
their  difficulties,  Balaam,  with  the  idea  of  turning 
him  round,  drew  his  six-shooter  and  fired  in  front 
of  the  horse,  divining,  even  as  the  flash  cut  the 


BALAAM   AND    PEDRO  315 

dusk,  the  secret  of  all  this  —  the  Indians;  but  too 
late.  His  bruised  hand  had  stiffened,  marring 
his  aim,  and  he  saw  Pedro  fall  over  in  the  water, 
then  rise  and  struggle  up  the  bank  on  the  farther 
shore,  where  he  now  hurried  also,  to  find  that  he 
had  broken  the  pony's  leg. 

He  needed  no  interpreter  for  the  voices  of  the 
seeming  owls  that  had  haunted  the  latter  hour  of 
their  journey,  and  he  knew  that  his  beast's  keener 
instinct  had  perceived  the  destruction  that  lurked 
in  the  interior  of  the  wood.  The  history  of  the 
trapper  whose  horse  had  returned  without  him 
might  have  been  —  might  still  be  —  his  own  ;  and 
he  thought  of  the  rag  that  had  fallen  from  the 
buzzard's  talons  when  he  had  been  disturbed  at 
his  meal  in  the  marsh.  "  Peaceable  "  Indians  were 
still  in  these  mountains,  and  some  few  of  them 
had  for  the  past  hour  been  skirting  his  journey 
unseen,  and  now  waited  for  him  in  the  wood, 
which  they  expected  him  to  enter.  They  had 
been  too  wary  to  use  their  rifles  or  show  them 
selves,  lest  these  travellers  should  be  only  part  of 
a  larger  company  following,  who  would  hear  the 
noise  of  a  shot,  and  catch  them  in  the  act  of 
murder.  So,  safe  under  the  cover  of  the  pines, 
they  had  planned  to  sling  their  silent  noose,  and 
drag  the  white  man  from  his  horse  as  he  passed 
through  the  trees. 

Balaam  looked  over  the  river  at  the  ominous 
wood,  and  then  he  looked  at  Pedro,  the  horse  that 
he  had  first  maimed  and  now  ruined,  to  whom  he 
probably  owed  his  life.  He  was  lying  on  the 
ground,  quietly  looking  over  the  green  meadow, 
where  dusk  was  gathering.  Perhaps  he  was  not 


316  THE   VIRGINIAN 

suffering  from  his  wound  yet,  as  he  rested  on  the 
ground ;  and  into  his  animal  intelligence  there 
probably  came  no  knowledge  of  this  final  stroke 
of  his  fate.  At  any  rate,  no  sound  of  pain  came 
from  Pedro,  whose  friendly  and  gentle  face  re 
mained  turned  toward  the  meadow.  Once  more 
Balaam  fired  his  pistol,  and  this  time  the  aim  was 
true,  and  the  horse  rolled  over,  with  a  ball  through 
his  brain.  It  was  the  best  reward  that  remained 
for  him. 

Then  Balaam  rejoined  the  old  mare,  and  turned 
from  the  middle  fork  of  Sunk  Creek.  He  dashed 
across  the  wide  field,  and  went  over  a  ridge,  and 
found  his  way  along  in  the  night  till  he  came  to 
the  old  trail  —  the  road  which  they  would  never 
have  left  but  for  him  and  his  obstinacy.  He  un 
saddled  the  weary  mare  by  Sunk  Creek,  where  the 
canon  begins,  letting  her  drag  a  rope  and  find  pas 
ture  and  water,  while  he,  lighting  no  fire  to  betray 
him,  crouched  close  under  a  tree  till  the  light  came. 
He  thought  of  the  Virginian  in  the  wood.  But 
what  could  either  have  done  for  the  other  had 
he  stayed  to  look  for  him  among  the  pines? 
If  the  cow-puncher  came  back  to  the  corner,  he 
would  follow  Balaam's  tracks  or  not.  They  would 
meet,  at  any  rate,  where  the  creeks  joined. 

But  they  did  not  meet.  And  then  to  Balaam 
the  prospect  of  going  onward  to  the  Sunk  Creek 
Ranch  became  more  than  he  could  bear.  To 
come  without  the  horses,  to  meet  Judge  Henry, 
to  meet  the  guests  of  the  Judge's,  looking  as  he 
did  now  after  his  punishment  by  the  Virginian, 
to  give  the  news  about  the  Judge's  favorite  man 
—  no,  how  could  he  tell  such  a  story  as  this? 


BALAAM    AND    PEDRO  317 

Balaam  went  no  farther  than  a  certain  cabin,  where 
he  slept,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Judge.  This 
the  owner  of  the  cabin  delivered.  And  so,  having 
spread  news  which  would  at  once  cause  a  search 
for  the  Virginian,  and  having  constructed  such 
sentences  to  the  Judge  as  would  most  smoothly 
explain  how,  being  overtaken  by  illness,  he  had 
not  wished  to  be  a  burden  at  Sunk  Creek,  Balaam 
turned  homeward  by  himself.  By  the  time  he  was 
once  more  at  Butte  Creek,  his  general  appearance 
was  a  thing  less  to  be  noticed.  And  there  was 
Shorty,  waiting ! 

One  way  and  another,  the  lost  dog  had  been 
able  to  gather  some  ready  money.  He  was  cheer 
ful  because  of  this  momentary  purseful  of  prosperity. 

"  And  so  I  come  back,  yu'  see,"  he  said.  "  For 
I  figured  on  getting  Pedro  back  as  soon  as  I  could 
when  I  sold  him  to  yu'." 

"  You're  behind  the  times,  Shorty,"  said  Balaam. 

Shorty  looked  blank.  "  You've  sure  not  sold 
Pedro  ?  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  Them  Indians,"  said  Balaam,  "  got  after  me  on 
the  Bow  Leg  trail.  Got  after  me  and  that  Vir 
ginia  man.  But  they  didn't  get  me? 

Balaam  wagged  his  bullet  head  to  imply  that  this 
escape  was  due  to  his  own  superior  intelligence. 
The  Virginian  had  been  stupid,  and  so  the  Indians 
had  got  him.  "  And  they  shot  your  horse," 
Balaam  finished.  "  Stop  and  get  some  dinner 
with  the  boys." 

Having  eaten,  Shorty  rode  away  in  mournful 
spirits.  For  he  had  made  so  sure  of  once  more 
riding  and  talking  with  Pedro,  his  friend  whom  he 
had  taught  to  shake  hands. 


XXVII 

GRANDMOTHER    STARK 

EXCEPT  for  its  chair  and  bed,  the  cabin  was 
stripped  almost  bare.  Amid  its  emptiness  of  dis 
mantled  shelves  and  walls  and  floor,  only  the  tiny 
ancestress  still  hung  in  her  place,  last  token  of  the 
home  that  had  been.  This  miniature,  tacked 
against  the  despoiled  boards,  and  its  descendant, 
the  angry  girl  with  her  hand  on  an  open  box-lid, 
made  a  sort  of  couple  in  the  loneliness :  she  on  the 
wall  sweet  and  serene,  she  by  the  box  sweet  and 
stormy.  The  picture  was  her  final  treasure  wait 
ing  to  be  packed  for  the  journey.  In  whatever 
room  she  had  called  her  own  since  childhood, 
there  it  had  also  lived  and  looked  at  her,  not  quite 
familiar,  not  quite  smiling,  but  in  its  prim  colonial 
hues  delicate  as  some  pressed  flower.  Its  pale 
oval,  of  color  blue  and  rose  and  flaxen,  in  a  bat 
tered,  pretty  gold  frame,  unconquerably  pervaded 
any  surroundings  with  a  something  like  last  year's 
lavender.  Till  yesterday  a  Crow  Indian  war- 
bonnet  had  hung  next  it,  a  sumptuous  cascade  of 
feathers  ;  on  the  other  side  a  bow  with  arrows  had 
dangled  ;  opposite  had  been  the  skin  of  a  silver 
fox;  over  the  door  had  spread  the  antlers  of  a 
black-tail  deer ;  a  bearskin  stretched  beneath  it. 
Thus  had  the  whole  cosey  log  cabin  been  uphol 
stered,  lavish  with  trophies  of  the  frontier;  and 

318 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  319 

yet  it  was  in  front  of  the  miniature  that  the  visi 
tors  used  to  stop. 

Shining  quietly  now  in  the  cabin's  blackness 
this  summer  day,  the  heirloom  was  presiding  until 
the  end.  And  as  Molly  Wood's  eyes  fell  upon 
her  ancestress  of  Bennington,  1777,  there  flashed 
a  spark  of  steel  in  them,  alone  here  in  the  room 
that  she  was  leaving  forever.  She  was  not  going 
to  teach  school  any  more  on  Bear  Creek,  Wyoming ; 
she  was  going  home  to  Bennington,  Vermont. 
When  time  came  for  school  to  open  again,  there 
should  be  a  new  schoolmarm. 

This  was  the  momentous  result  of  that  visit 
which  the  Virginian  had  paid  her.  He  had  told 
her  that  he  was  coming  for  his  hour  soon.  From 
that  hour  she  had  decided  to  escape.  She  was 
running  away  from  her  own  heart.  She  did  not 
dare  to  trust  herself  face  to  face  again  with  her 
potent,  indomitable  lover.  She  longed  for  him, 
and  therefore  she  would  never  see  him  again. 
No  great-aunt  at  Dunbarton,  or  anybody  else 
that  knew  her  and  her  family,  should  ever  say 
that  she  had  married  below  her  station,  had 
been  an  unworthy  Stark !  Accordingly,  she  had 
written  to  the  Virginian,  bidding  him  good-by, 
and  wishing  him  everything  in  the  world.  As  she 
happened  to  be  aware  that  she  was  taking  every 
thing  in  the  world  away  from  him,  this  letter  was 
not  the  most  easy  of  letters  to  write.  But  she 
had  made  the  language  very  kind.  Yes ;  it  was  a 
thoroughly  kind  communication.  And  all  because 
of  that  momentary  visit,  when  he  had  brought  back 
to  her  two  novels,  Emma  and  Pride  and  Prejudice. 

"  How  do  you  like  them  ? "    she  had  then  in- 


320  THE    VIRGINIAN 

quired  ;  and  he  had  smiled  slowly  at  her.  "  You 
haven't  read  them !  "  she  exclaimed. 

'"No." 

"  Are  you  going  to  tell  me  there  has  been  no 
time  ? " 

"  No." 

Then  Molly  had  scolded  her  cow-puncher,  and 
to  this  he  had  listened  with  pleasure  undisguised, 
as  indeed  he  listened  to  every  word  that  she  said. 

"  Why,  it  has  come  too  late,"  he  had  told  her 
when  the  scolding  was  over.  "  If  I  was  one  of 
your  little  scholars  hyeh  in  Bear  Creek  school- 
house,  yu'  could  learn  me  to  like  such  frillery  I 
reckon.  But  I'm  a  mighty  ignorant,  gro wed-up 


man." 


"  So  much  the  worse  for  you  !  "  said  Molly. 
"  No.     I  am  pretty  glad   I  am  a  man.     Else  I 
could  not  have  learned  the  thing  you  have  taught 


me." 


But  she  shut  her  lips  and  looked  away.  On 
the  desk  was  a  letter  written  from  Vermont.  "  If 
you  don't  tell  me  at  once  when  you  decide,"  had 
said  the  arch  writer,  "  never  hope  to  speak  to  me 
again.  Mary  Wood,  seriously,  I  am  suspicious. 
Why  do  you  never  mention  him  nowadays  ? 
How  exciting  to  have  you  bring  a  live  cow-boy 
to  Bennington !  We  should  all  come  to  dinner. 
Though  of  course  I  understand  now  that  many 
of  them  have  excellent  manners.  But  would  he 
wear  his  pistol  at  table  ? "  So  the  letter  ran  on. 
It  recounted  the  latest  home  gossip  and  jokes. 
In  answering  it  Molly  Wood  had  taken  no  notice 
of  its  childish  tone  here  and  there. 

"  Hyeh's   some   of   them   cactus   blossoms  yu' 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  321 

wanted,"  said  the  Virginian.  His  voice  recalled 
the  girl  with  almost  a  start.  "  I've  brought  a 
good  hawss  I've  gentled  for  yu',  and  Taylor'll 
keep  him  till  I  need  him." 

"  Thank  you  so  much  !  but  I  wish  —  " 

"  I  reckon  yu'  can't  stop  me  lendin'  Taylor  a 
hawss.  And  you  cert'nly  '11  get  sick  school- 
teachin'  if  yu'  don't  keep  outdoors  some.  Good- 
by  —  till  that  next  time." 

"  Yes  ;  there's  always  a  next  time,"  she  answered, 
as  lightly  as  she  could. 

"  There  always  will  be.    Don't  yu'  know  that  ?  " 

She  did  not  reply. 

u  I  have  discouraged  spells,"  he  pursued,  "but  I 
down  them.  For  I've  told  yu'  you  were  going  to 
love  me.  You  are  goin'  to  learn  back  the  thing 
you  have  taught  me.  I'm  not  askin'  anything 
now ;  I  don't  want  you  to  speak  a  word  to  me. 
But  I'm  never  goin'  to  quit  till  *  next  time '  is  no 
more,  and  it's  '  all  the  time '  for  you  and  me." 

With  that  he  had  ridden  away,  not  even  touch 
ing  her  hand.  Long  after  he  had  gone  she  was 
still  in  her  chair,  her  eyes  lingering  upon  his 
flowers,  those  yellow  cups  of  the  prickly  pear. 
At  length  she  had  risen  impatiently,  caught  up 
the  flowers,  gone  with  them  to  the  open  window, 
—  and  then,  after  all,  set  them  with  pains  in  water. 

But  to-day  Bear  Creek  was  over.  She  was 
going  home  now.  By  the  week's  end  she  would 
be  started.  By 'the  time  the  mail  brought  him 
her  good-by  letter  she  would  be  gone.  She  had 
acted. 

To  Bear  Creek,  the  neighborly,  the  friendly, 
the  not  comprehending,  this  move  had  come  un- 


322  THE   VIRGINIAN 

looked  for,  and  had  brought  regret.  Only  one 
hard  word  had  been  spoken  to  Molly,  and  that 
by  her  next-door  neighbor  and  kindest  friend.  In 
Mrs.  Taylor's  house  the  girl  had  daily  come  and 
gone  as  a  daughter,  and  that  lady  reached  the 
subject  thus:  — 

"  When  I  took  Taylor,"  said  she,  sitting  by  as 
Robert  Browning  and  Jane  Austen  were  going 
into  their  box,  "  I  married  for  love." 

"  Do  you  wish  it  had  been  money  ? "  said 
Molly,  stooping  to  her  industries. 

"  You  know  both  of  us  better  than  that,  child." 

"  I  know  I've  seen  people  at  home  who  couldn't 
possibly  have  had  any  other  reason.  They  seemed 
satisfied,  too." 

"  Maybe  the  poor  ignorant  things  were !  " 

"  And  so  I  have  never  been  sure  how  I  might 
choose." 

"  Yes,  you  are  sure,  deary.  Don't  you  think 
I  know  you?  And  when  it  comes  over  Taylor 
once  in  a  while,  and  he  tells  me  I'm  the  best 
thing  in  his  life,  and  I  tell  him  he  ain't  merely 
the  best  thing  but  the  only  thing  in  mine,  —  him 
and  the  children,  —  why,  we  just  agree  we'd  do  it 
all  over  the  same  way  if  we  had  the  chance." 

Molly  continued  to  be  industrious. 

"  And  that's  why,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor,  "  I  want 
every  girl  that's  anything  to  me  to  know  her 
luck  when  it  comes.  For  I  was  that  near  telling 
Taylor  I  wouldn't !  " 

"  If  ever  my  luck  comes,"  said  Molly,  with  her 
back  to  her  friend,  "  I  shall  say  c  I  will '  at  once." 

"  Then  you'll  say  it  at  Bennington  next  week." 

Molly  wheeled  round. 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  323 

"  Why,  you  surely  will.  Do  you  expect  he's 
going  to  stay  here,  and'  you  in  Bennington?" 
And  the  campaigner  sat  back  in  her  chair. 

"  He  ?     Goodness  !     Who  is  he  ?  " 

"  Child,  child,  you're  talking  cross  to-day  be 
cause  you're  at  outs  with  yourself.  You've  been  at 
outs  ever  since  you  took  this  idea  of  leaving  the 
school  and  us  and  everything  this  needless  way. 
You  have  not  treated  him  right.  And  why,  I 
can't  make  out  to  save  me.  What  have  you  found 
out  all  of  a  sudden  ?  If  he  was  not  good  enough 
for  you,  I  —  But,  oh,  it's  a  prime  one  you're  los 
ing,  Molly.  When  a  man  like  that  stays  faithful 
to  a  girl  'spite  all  the  chances  he  gets,  her  luck  is 


come." 


I 


"  Oh,  my  luck  !  People  have  different  notions 
of  luck." 

"  Notions ! " 

"  He  has  been  very  kind." 

"  Kind  !  "  And  now  without  further  simmer 
ing,  Mrs.  Taylor's  wrath  boiled  up  and  poured  co 
piously  over  Molly  Wood.  "  Kind !  There's  a 
word  you  shouldn't  use,  my  dear.  No  doubt 
you  can  spell  it.  But  more  than  its  spelling  I 
guess  you  don't  know.  The  children  can  learn 
what  it  means  from  some  of  the  rest  of  us  folks 
that  don't  spell  so  correct,  maybe." 

"  Mrs.  Taylor,  Mrs.  Taylor  —  " 

"  I  can't  wait,  deary.  Since  the  roughness 
looks  bigger  to  you  than  the  diamond,  you  had 
better  go  back  to  Vermont.  I  expect  you'll  find 
better  grammar  there,  deary." 

The  good  dame  stalked  out,  and  across  to  her 
own  cabin,  and  left  the  angry  girl  among  her  boxes. 


324  THE  VIRGINIAN 

It  was  in  vain  she  fell  to  work  upon  them.  Pres 
ently  something  had  to  be  done  over  again,  and 
when  it  was,  the  box  held  several  chattels  less 
than  before  the  readjustment.  She  played  a  sort 
of  desperate  dominos  to  fit  these  objects  in  the 
space,  but  here  were  a  paper-weight,  a  portfolio, 
with  two  wretched  volumes  that  no  chink  would 
harbor;  and  letting  them  fall  all  at  once,  she 
straightened  herself,  still  stormy  with  revolt,  eyes 
and  cheeks  still  hot  from  the  sting  of  long-parried 
truth.  There,  on  her  wall  still,  was  the  miniature, 
the  little  silent  ancestress  ;  and  upon  this  face  the 
girl's  glance  rested.  It  was  as  if  she  appealed  to 
Grandmother  Stark  for  support  and  comfort  across 
the  hundred  years  which  lay  between  them.  So 
the  flaxen  girl  on  the  wall  and  she  among  the 
boxes  stood  a  moment  face  to  face  in  seeming 
communion,  and  then  the  descendant  turned  again 
to  her  work.  But  after  a  desultory  touch  here  and 
there  she  drew  a  long  breath  and  walked  to  the 
open  door.  What  use  was  in  finishing  to-day, 
when  she  had  nearly  a  week  ?  This  first  spurt  of 
toil  had  swept  the  cabin  bare  of  all  indwelling 
charm,  and  its  look  was  chill.  Across  the  lane 
his  horse,  the  one  he  had  "  gentled  "  for  her,  was 
grazing  idly.  She  walked  there  and  caught  him, 
and  led  him  to  her  gate.  Mrs.  Taylor  saw  her 
go  in,  and  soon  come  out  in  riding-dress ;  and  she 
watched  the  girl  throw  the  saddle  on  with  quick 
ease  —  the  ease  he  had  taught  her.  Mrs.  Taylor 
also  saw  the  sharp  cut  she  gave  the  horse,  and 
laughed  grimly  to  herself  in  her  window  as  horse 
and  rider  galloped  into  the  beautiful  sunny  loneli 
ness. 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  325 

To  the  punished  animal  this  switching  was  new, 
and  at  its  third  repetition  he  turned  his  head  in 
surprise,  but  was  no  more  heeded  than  were  the 
bluffs  and  flowers  where  he  was  taking  his  own 
undirected  choice  of  way.  He  carried  her  over 
ground  she  knew  by  heart  — Corncliff  Mesa,  Crow- 
heart  Butte,  Westfall's  Crossing,  Upper  Canon; 
open  land  and  woodland,  pines  and  sage-brush, 
all  silent  and  grave  and  lustrous  in  the  sunshine. 
Once  and  again  a  ranchman  greeted  her,  and  won 
dered  if  she  liad  forgotten  who  he  was ;  once  she 
passed  some  cow-punchers  with  a  small  herd  of 
steers,  and  they  stared  after  her  too.  Bear  Creek 
narrowed,  its  mountain-sides  drew  near,  its  little 
falls  began  to  rush  white  in  midday  shadow,  and 
the  horse  suddenly  pricked  his  ears.  Unguided, 
he  was  taking  this  advantage  to  go  home.  Though 
he  had  made  but  little  way  —  a  mere  beginning 
yet  —  on  this  trail  over  to  Sunk  Creek,  here  was 
already  a  Sunk  Creek  friend  whinnying  good  day 
to  him,  so  he  whinnied  back  and  quickened  his 
pace,  and  Molly  started  to  life.  What  was  Monte 
doing  here  ?  She  saw  the  black  horse  she  knew 
also,  saddled,  with  reins  dragging  on  the  trail  as 
the  rider  had  dropped  them  to  dismount.  A  cold 
spring  bubbled  out  beyond  the  next  rock,  and  she 
knew  her  lover's  horse  was  waiting  for  him  while 
he  drank.  She  pulled  at  the  reins,  but  loosed 
them,  for  to  turn  and  escape  now  was  ridiculous ; 
and  riding  boldly  round  the  rock,  she  came  upon 
him  by  the  spring.  One  of  his  arms  hung  up  to 
its  elbow  in  the  pool,  the  other  was  crooked  be 
side  his  head,  but  the  face  was  sunk  downward 
against  the  shelving  rock,  so  that  she  saw  only 


326  THE  VIRGINIAN 

his  black,  tangled  hair.  As  her  horse  snorted  and 
tossed  his  head  she  looked  swiftly  at  Monte,  as  if 
to  question  him.  Seeing  now  the  sweat  matted 
on  his  coat,  and  noting  the  white  rim  of  his  eye, 
she  sprang  and  ran  to  the  motionless  figure.  A 
patch  of  blood  at  his  shoulder  behind  stained  the 
soft  flannel  shirt,  spreading  down  beneath  his  belt, 
and  the  man's  whole  strong  body  lay  slack  and 
pitifully  helpless. 

She  touched  the  hand  beside  his  head,  but  it 
seemed  neither  warm  nor  cold  to  her;  she  felt 
for  the  pulse,  as  nearly  as  she  could  remember 
the  doctors  did,  but  could  not  tell  whether  she 
imagined  or  not  that  it  was  still ;  twice  with 
painful  care  her  fingers  sought  and  waited  for 
the  beat,  and  her  face  seemed  like  one  of  listen 
ing.  She  leaned  down  and  lifted  his  other  arm 
and  hand  from  the  water,  and  as  their  ice-cold 
ness  reached  her  senses,  clearly  she  saw  the  patch 
near  the  shoulder  she  had  moved  grow  wet  with 
new  blood,  and  at  that  sight  she  grasped  at  the 
stones  upon  which  she  herself  now  sank.  She 
held  tight  by  two  rocks,  sitting  straight  beside 
him,  staring,  and  murmuring  aloud,  "  I  must  not 
faint ;  I  will  not  faint ; "  and  the  standing  horses 
looked  at  her,  pricking  their  ears. 

In  this  cuplike  spread  of  the  ravine  the  sun 
shone  warmly  down,  the  tall  red  cliff  was  warm, 
the  pines  were  a  warm  film  and  filter  of  green ; 
outside  the  shade  across  Bear  Creek  rose  the 
steep,  soft,  open  yellow  hill,  warm  and  high  to 
the  blue,  and  Bear  Creek  tumbled  upon  its  sun- 
sparkling  stones.  The  two  horses  on  the  margin 
trail  still  looked  at  the  spring  and  trees,  where  sat 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  327 

the  neat  flaxen  girl  so  rigid  by  the  slack  prone  body 
in  its  flannel  shirt  and  leathern  chaps.  Suddenly 
her  face  livened.  "  But  the  blood  ran  !  "  she  ex 
claimed,  as  if  to  the  horses,  her  companions  in 
this.  She  moved  to  him,  and  put  her  hand  in 
through  his  shirt  against  his  heart. 

Next  moment  she  had  sprung  up  and  was  at 
his  saddle,  searching,  then  swiftly  went  on  to  her 
own  and  got  her  small  flask  and  -was  back  beside 
him.  Here  was  the  cold  water  he  had  sought, 
and  she  put  it  against  his  forehead  and  drenched 
the  wounded  shoulder  with  it.  Three  times  she 
tried  to  move  him,  so  he  might  lie  more  easy, 
but  his  dead  weight  was  too  much,  and  desisting, 
she  sat  close  and  raised  his  head  to  let  it  rest 
against  her.  Thus  she  saw  the  blood  that  was 
running  from  in  front  of  the  shoulder  also  ;  but 
she  said  no  more  about  fainting.  She  tore  strips 
from  her  dress  and  soaked  them,  keeping  them 
cold  and  wet  upon  both  openings  of  his  wound, 
and  she  drew  her  pocket-knife  out  and  cut  his 
shirt  away  from  the  place.  As  she  continually 
rinsed  and  cleaned  it,  she  watched  his  eyelashes, 
long  and  soft  and  thick,  but  they  did  not  stir. 
Again  she  tried  the  flask,  but  failed  from  being 
still  too  gentle,  and  her  searching  eyes  fell  upon 
ashes  near  the  pool.  Still  undispersed  by  the 
weather  lay  the  small  charred  ends  of  a  fire  he 
and  she  had  made  once  here  together,  to  boil 
coffee  and  fry  trout.  She  built  another  fire 
now,  and  when  ( the  flames  were  going  well,  filled 
her  flask-cup  from  the  spring  and  set  it  to 
heat.  Meanwhile,  she  returned  to  nurse  his  head 
and  wound.  Her  cold  water  had  stopped  the 


328  THE  VIRGINIAN 

bleeding.  Then  she  poured  her  brandy  in  the 
steaming  cup,  and,  made  rough  by  her  desperate 
helplessness,  forced  some  between  his  lips  and 
teeth. 

Instantly,  almost,  she  felt  the  tremble  of  life 
creeping  back,  and  as  his  deep  eyes  opened  upon 
her  she  sat  still  and  mute.  But  the  gaze  seemed 
luminous  with  an  unnoting  calm,  and  she  won 
dered  if  perhaps  he  could  not  recognize  her; 
she  watched  this  internal  clearness  of  his  vision, 
scarcely  daring  to  breathe,  until  presently  he 
began  to  speak,  with  the  same  profound  and 
clear  impersonality  sounding  in  his  slowly  uttered 
words. 

"  I  thought  they  had  found  me.  I  expected 
they  were  going  to  kill  me."  He  stopped,  and 
she  gave  him  more  of  the  hot  drink,  which  he 
took,  still  lying  and  looking  at  her  as  if  the 
present  did  not  reach  his  senses.  "  I  knew  hands 
were  touching  me.  I  reckon  I  was  not  dead.  I 
knew  about  them  soon  as  they  began,  only  I 
could  not  interfere."  He  waited  again.  "  It  is 
mighty  strange  where  I  have  been.  No.  Mighty 
natural."  Then  he  went  back  into  his  re  very, 
and  lay  with  his  eyes  still  full  open  upon  her 
where  she  sat  motionless. 

She  began  to  feel  a  greater  awe  in  this  living 
presence  than  when  it  had  been  his  body  with  an 
ice-cold  hand ;  and  she  quietly  spoke  his  name, 
venturing  scarcely  more  than  a  whisper. 

At  this,  some  nearer  thing  wakened  in  his 
look.  "  But  it  was  you  all  along,"  he  resumed. 
"  It  is  you  now.  You  must  not  stay  —  "  Weak 
ness  overcame  him,  and  his  eyes  closed.  She  sat 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  329 

ministering  to  him,  and  when  he  roused  again,  he 
began  anxiously  at  once :  "  You  must  not  stay. 
They  would  get  you,  too." 

She  glanced  at  him  with  a  sort  of  fierceness, 
then  reached  for  his  pistol,  in  which  was  nothing 
but  blackened  empty  cartridges.  She  threw  these 
out  and  drew  six  from  his  belt,  loaded  the  weapon, 
and  snapped  shut  its  hinge. 

"  Please  take  it,"  he  said,  more  anxious  and 
more  himself.  "  I  ain't  worth  tryin'  to  keep. 
Look  at  me ! " 

"  Are  you  giving  up  ? "  she  inquired,  trying  to 
put  scorn  in  her  tone.  Then  she  seated  herself. 

"  Where  is  the  sense  in  both  of  us  —  " 

"  You  had  better  save  your  strength,"  she 
interrupted. 

He  tried  to  sit  up. 

"  Lie  down  !  "  she  ordered. 

He  sank  obediently,  and  began  to  smile. 

When  she  saw  that,  she  smiled  too,  and  unex 
pectedly  took  his  hand.  "  Listen,  friend,"  said 
she.  "  Nobody  shall  get  you,  and  nobody  shall 
get  me.  Now  take  some  more  brandy." 

"  It  must  be  noon,"  said  the  cow-puncher,  when 
she  had  drawn  her  hand  away  from  him.  "  I 
remember  it  was  dark  when  —  when  —  when  I 
can  remember.  I  reckon  they  were  scared  to 
follow  me  in  so  close  to  settlers.  Else  they 
would  have  been  here." 

"  You  must  rest,"  she  observed. 

She  broke  the  soft  ends  of  some  evergreen,  and 
putting  them  beneath  his  head,  went  to  the  horses, 
loosened  the  cinches,  took  off  the  bridles,  led  them 
to  drink,  and  picketed  them  to  feed.  Further  still, 


330  THE   VIRGINIAN 

to  leave  nothing  undone  which  she  could  herself 
manage,  she  took  the  horses'  saddles  off  to  refold 
the  blankets  when  the  time  should  come,  and 
meanwhile  brought  them  for  him.  But  he  put 
them  away  from  him.  He  was  sitting  up  against 
a  rock,  stronger  evidently,  and  asking  for  cold 
water.  His  head  was  fire-hot,  and  the  paleness 
beneath  his  swarthy  skin  had  changed  to  a  deep 
ening  flush. 

"  Only  five  miles !  "  she  said  to  him,  bathing  his 
head. 

"Yes.  I  must  hold  it  steady,"  he  answered, 
waving  his  hand  at  the  cliff. 

She  told  him  to  try  and  keep  it  steady  until 
they  got  home. 

"  Yes,"  he  repeated.  "  Only  five  miles.  But  it's 
fightin'  to  turn  around."  Half  aware  that  he  was 
becoming  light-headed,  he  looked  from  the  rock 
to  her  and  from  her  to  the  rock  with  dilating 
eyes. 

"We  can  hold  it  together,"  she  said.  "You 
must  get  on  your  horse."  She  took  his  handker 
chief  from  round  his  neck,  knotting  it  with  he 
own,  and  to  make  more  bandage  she  ran  to  the 
roll  of  clothes  behind  his  saddle  and  tore  in  halves 
a  clean  shirt.  A  handkerchief  fell  from  it,  which 
she  seized  also,  and  opening,  saw  her  own  initials 
by  the  hem.  Then  she  remembered :  she  saw 
again  their  first  meeting,  the  swollen  river,  the 
overset  stage,  the  unknown  horseman  who  carried 
her  to  the  bank  on  his  saddle  and  went  away 
unthanked  —  her  whole  first  adventure  on  that 
first  day  of  her  coming  to  this  new  country  — 
and  now  she  knew  how  her  long-forgotten  hand 


• 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  331 

kerchief  had  gone  that  day.  She  refolded  it 
gently  and  put  it  back  in  his  bundle,  for  there 
was  enough  bandage  without  it.  She  said  not  a 
word  to  him,  and  he  placed  a  wrong  meaning 
upon  the  look  which  she  gave  him  as  she  returned 
to  bind  his  shoulder. 

"  It  don't  hurt  so  much,"  he  assured  her  (though 
extreme  pain  was  clearing  his  head  for  the  moment, 
and  he  had  been  able  to  hold  the  cliff  from  turn 
ing).  "  Yu'  must  not  squander  your  pity." 

"  Do  not  squander  your  strength,"  said  she. 

"  Oh,  I  could  put  up  a  pretty  good  fight  now !  " 
But  he  tottered  in  showing  her  how  strong  he 
was,  and  she  told  him  that,  after  all,  he  was  a 
child  still. 

"  Yes,"  he  slowly  said,  looking  after  her  as  she 
went  to  bring  his  horse,  "  the  same  child  that 
wanted  to  touch  the  moon,  I  guess."  And  dur 
ing  the  slow  climb  down  into  the  saddle  from  a 
rock  to  which  she  helped  him  he  said,  "  You  have 
got  to  be  the  man  all  through  this  mess." 

She  saw  his  teeth  clinched  and  his  drooping 
muscles  compelled  by  will;  and  as  he  rode  and 
she  walked  to  lend  him  support,  leading  her  horse 
by  a  backward-stretched  left  hand,  she  counted 
off  the  distance  to  him  continually  —  the  increas 
ing  gain,  the  lessening  road,  the  landmarks  near- 
ing  and  dropping  behind ;  here  was  the  tree  with 
the  wasp-nest  gone ;  now  the  burned  cabin  was 
passed ;  now  the  cottonwoods  at  the  ford  were  in 
sight.  He  was  silent,  and  held  to  the  saddle- 
horn,  leaning  more  and  more  against  his  two 
hands  clasped  over  it ;  and  just  after  they  had 
made  the  crossing  he  fell,  without  a  sound,  slip- 


332  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ping  to  the  grass,  and  his  descent  broken  by  her. 
But  it  started  the  blood  a  little,  and  she  dared  not 
leave  him  to  seek  help.  She  gave  him  the  last  of 
the  flask  and  all  the  water  he  craved. 

Revived,  he  managed  to  smile.  "  Yu'  see,  I 
ain't  worth  keeping." 

"  It's  only  a  mile,"  said  she.  So  she  found  a 
log,  a  fallen  trunk,  and  he  crawled  to  that,  and  from 
there  crawled  to  his  saddle,  and  she  marched  on 
with  him,  talking,  bidding  him  note  the  steps 
accomplished.  For  the  next  half-mile  they  went 
thus,  the  silent  man  clinched  on  the  horse,  and  by 
his  side  the  girl  walking  and  cheering  him  for 
ward,  when  suddenly  he  began  to  speak :  — 

"  I  will  say  good-by  to  you  now,  ma'am." 

She  did  not  understand,  at  first,  the  significance 
of  this. 

"  He  is  getting  away,"  pursued  the  Virginian. 
"  I  must  ask  you  to  excuse  me,  ma'am." 

It  was  a  long  while  since  her  lord  had  ad 
dressed  her  as  "ma'am."  As  she  looked  at  him 
in  growing  apprehension,  he  turned  Monte  and 
would  have  ridden  away,  but  she  caught  the 
bridle. 

"  You  must  take  me  home,"  said  she,  with  ready 
inspiration.  "  I  am  afraid  of  the  Indians." 

"Why,  you  —  why,  they've  all  gone.  There  he 
goes.  Ma'am  —  that  hawss  —  " 

"  No,"  said  she,  holding  firmly  his  rein  and 
quickening  her  step.  "  A  gentleman  does  not 
invite  a  lady  to  go  out  riding  and  leave  her." 

His  eyes  lost  their  purpose.  "  I'll  cert'nly  take 
you  home.  That  sorrel  has  gone  in  there  by  the 
wallow,  and  Judge  Henry  will  understand."  With 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  333 

his  eyes  watching  imaginary  objects,  he  rode  and 
rambled,  and  it  was  now  the  girl  who  was  silent, 
except  to  keep  his  mind  from  its  half-fixed  idea  of 
the  sorrel.  As  he  grew  more  fluent  she  hastened 
still  more,  listening  to  head  off  that  notion  of 
return,  skilfully  inventing  questions  to  engage 
him,  so  that  when  she  brought  him  to  her  gate 
she  held  him  in  a  manner  subjected,  answering 
faithfully  the  shrewd  unrealities  which  she  de 
vised,  whatever  makeshifts  she  could  summon  to 
her  mind ;  and  next  she  had  got  him  inside  her 
dwelling  and  set  him  down  docile,  but  now  com 
pletely  wandering;  and  then  —  no  help  was  at 
hand,  even  here.  She  had  made  sure  of  aid  from 
next  door,  and  there  she  hastened,  to  find  the 
Taylor's  cabin  locked  and  silent ;  and  this  meant 
that  parents  and  children  were  gone  to  drive ; 
nor  might  she  be  luckier  at  her  next  nearest 
neighbors',  should  she  travel  the  intervening  mile 
to  fetch  them.  With  a  mind  jostled  once  more 
into  uncertainty,  she  returned  to  her  room,  and 
saw  a  change  in  him  already.  Illness  had  strid 
den  upon  him ;  his  face  was  not  as  she  had  left  it, 
and  the  whole  body,  the  splendid  supple  horse 
man,  showed  sickness  in  every  line  and  limb,  its 
spurs  and  pistol  and  bold  leather  chaps  a  mockery 
of  trappings.  She  looked  at  him,  and  decision 
came  back  to  her,  clear  and  steady.  She  sup 
ported  him  over  to  her  bed  and  laid  him  on  it. 
His  head  sank  flat,  and  his  loose,  nerveless  arms 
stayed  as  she  left  them.  Then  among  her  packing- 
boxes  and  beneath  the  little  miniature,  blue  and 
flaxen  and  gold  upon  its  lonely  wall,  she  undressed 
him.  He  was  cold,  and  she  covered  him  to  the 


334  THE  VIRGINIAN 

face,  and  arranged  the  pillow,  and  got  from  its 
box  her  scarlet  and  black  Navajo  blanket  and 
spread  it  over  him.  There  was  no  more  that  she 
could  do,  and  she  sat  down  by  him  to  wait. 
Among  the  many  and  many  things  that  came 
into  her  mind  was  a  word  he  said  to  her  lightly 
a  long  while  ago.  "  Cow-punchers  do  not  live 
long  enough  to  get  old,"  he  had  told  her.  And 
now  she  looked  at  the  head  upon  the  pillow,  grave 
and  strong,  but  still  the  head  of  splendid,  unworn 
youth. 

At  the  distant  jingle  of  the  wagon  in  the  lane 
she  was  out,  and  had  met  her  returning  neighbors 
midway.  They  heard  her  with  amazement,  and 
came  in  haste  to  the  bedside;  then  Taylor  de 
parted  to  spread  news  of  the  Indians  and  bring 
the  doctor,  twenty-five  miles  away.  The  two 
women  friends  stood  alone  again,  as  they  had 
stood  in  the  morning  when  anger  had  been  be 
tween  them. 

"  Kiss  me,  deary,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor.  "  Now  I 
will  look  after  him  —  and  you'll  need  some  look 
ing  after  yourself." 

But  on  returning  from  her  cabin  with  what 
store  she  possessed  of  lint  and  stimulants,  she 
encountered  a  rebel,  independent  as  ever.  Molly 
would  hear  no  talk  about  saving  her  strength, 
would  not  be  in  any  room  but  this  one  until  the 
doctor  should  arrive ;  then  perhaps  it  would  be 
time  to  think  about  resting.  So  together  the 
dame  and  the  girl  rinsed  the  man's  wound  and 
wrapped  him  in  clean  things,  and  did  all  the  little 
that  they  knew  —  which  was,  in  truth,  the  very 
thing  needed.  Then  they  sat  watching  him  toss 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  335 

and  mutter.  It  was  no  longer  upon  Indians  or 
the  sorrel  horse  that  his  talk  seemed  to  run,  or 
anything  recent,  apparently,  always  excepting  his 
work.  This  flowingly  merged  with  whatever 
scene  he  was  inventing  or  living  again,  and  he 
wandered  unendingly  in  that  incompatible  world 
we  dream  in.  Through  the  medley  of  events  and 
names,  often  thickly  spoken,  but  rising  at  times 
to  grotesque  coherence,  the  listeners  now  and 
then  could  piece  out  the  reference  from  their  own 
knowledge.  "  Monte,"  for  example,  continually 
addressed,  and  Molly  heard  her  own  name,  but 
invariably  as  "  Miss  Wood  " ;  nothing  less  respect 
ful  came  out,  and  frequently  he  answered  some 
one  as  "ma'am."  At  these  fragments  of  revela 
tion  Mrs.  Taylor  abstained  from  speech,  but  eyed 
Molly  Wood  with  caustic  reproach.  As  the  night 
wore  on,  short  lulls  of  silence  intervened,  and  the 
watchers  were  deceived  into  hope  that  the  fever 
was  abating.  And  when  the  Virginian  sat  quietly 
up  in  bed,  essayed  to  move  his  bandage,  and 
looked  steadily  at  Mrs.  Taylor,  she  rose  quickly 
and  went  to  him  with  a  question  as  to  how  he  was 
doing. 

"  Rise  on  your  laigs,  you  polecat,"  said  he,  "  and 
tell  them  you're  a  liar." 

The  good  dame  gasped,  then  bade  him  lie  down, 
and  he  obeyed  her  with  that  strange  double  under 
standing  of  the  delirious;  for  even  while  submit 
ting,  he  muttered  "liar,"  "polecat,"  and  then 
"  Trampas." 

At  that  name  light  flashed  on  Mrs.  Taylor,  and 
she  turned  to  Molly ;  and  there  was  the  girl  strug 
gling  with  a  fit  of  mirth  at  his  speech;  but  the 


336  THE   VIRGINIAN 

laughter  was  fast  becoming  a  painful  seizure. 
Mrs.  Taylor  walked  Molly  up  and  down,  speaking 
immediately  to  arrest  her  attention. 

"  You  might  as  well  know  it,"  she  said.  "  He 
would  blame  me  for  speaking  of  it,  but  where 's 
the  harm  all  this  while  after  ?  And  you  would 
never  hear  it  from  his  mouth.  Molly,  child,  they 
say  Trampas  would  kill  him  if  he  dared,  and  that's 
on  account  of  you." 

"  I  never  saw  Trampas,"  said  Molly,  fixing  her 
eyes  upon  the  speaker. 

"  No,  deary.  But  before  a  lot  of  men  —  Taylor 
has  told  me  about  it  —  Trampas  spoke  disrespect 
fully  of  you,  and  before  them  all  he  made  Trampas 
say  he  was  a  liar.  That  is  what  he  did  when  you 
were  almost  a  stranger  among  us,  and  he  had  not 
started  seeing  so  much  of  you.  I  expect  Trampas 
is  the  only  enemy  he  ever  had  in  this  country. 
But  he  would  never  let  you  know  about  that." 

"  No,"  whispered  Molly ;  "  I  did  not  know." 

"  Steve ! "  the  sick  man  now  cried  out,  in  poig 
nant  appeal.  "  Steve !  "  To  the  women  it  was  a 
name  unknown,  —  unknown  as  was  also  this  deep 
inward  tide  of  feeling  which  he  could  no  longer 
conceal,  being  himself  no  longer.  "  No,  Steve," 
he  said  next,  and  muttering  followed.  "  It  ain't 
so !  "  he  shouted  ;  and  then  cunningly  in  a  lowered 
voice,  "  Steve,  I  have  lied  for  you." 

In  time  Mrs.  Taylor  spoke  some  advice. 

"  You  had  better  go  to  bed,  child.  You  look 
about  ready  for  the  doctor  yourself." 

"  Then  I  will  wait  for  him,"  said  Molly. 

So  the  two  nurses  continued  to  sit  until  dark 
ness  at  the  windows  weakened  into  gray,  and 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  337 

the  lamp  was  no  more  needed.  Their  patient 
was  rambling  again.  Yet,  into  whatever  scenes 
he  went,  there  in  some  guise  did  the  throb  of  his 
pain  evidently  follow  him,  and  he  lay  hitching 
his  great  shoulder  as  if  to  rid  it  of  the  cum- 
brance.  They  waited  for  the  doctor,  not  daring 
much  more  than  to  turn  pillows  and  give  what 
other  ease  they  could ;  and  then,  instead  of  the 
doctor,  came  a  messenger,  about  noon,  to  say 
he  was  gone  on  a  visit  some  thirty  miles  beyond, 
where  Taylor  had  followed  to  bring  him  here  as 
soon  as  might  be.  At  this  Molly  consented  to 
rest  and  to  watch,  turn  about ;  and  once  she  was 
over  in  her  friend's  house  lying  down,  they  tried 
to  keep  her  there.  But  the  revolutionist  could 
not  be  put  down,  and  when,  as  a  last  pretext, 
Mrs.  Taylor  urged  the  proprieties  and  conven 
tions,  the  pale  girl  from  Vermont  laughed  sweetly 
in  her  face  and  returned  to  sit  by  the  sick  man. 
With  the  approach  of  the  second  night  his  fever 
seemed  to  rise  and  master  him  more  completely 
than  they  had  yet  seen  it,  and  presently  it  so 
raged  that  the  women  called  in  stronger  arms  to 
hold  him  down.  There  were  times  when  he  broke 
out  in  the  language  of  the  round-up,  and  Mrs. 
Taylor  renewed  her  protests.  "  Why,"  said  Molly, 
"  don't  you  suppose  I  knew  they  could  swear  ? " 
So  the  dame,  in  deepening  astonishment  and 
affection,  gave  up  these  shifts  at  decorum.  Nor 
did  the  delirium  run  into  the  intimate,  coarse 
matters  that  she  dreaded.  The  cow-puncher  had 
lived  like  his  kind,  but  his  natural  daily  thoughts 
were  clean,  and  came  from  the  untamed  but  un 
stained  mind  of  a  man.  And  toward  morning, 


338  THE   VIRGINIAN 

as  Mrs.  Taylor  sat  taking  her  turn,  suddenly  he 
asked  had  he  been  sick  long,  and  looked  at  her 
with  a  quieted  eye.  The  wandering  seemed  to 
drop  from  him  at  a  stroke,  leaving  him  altogether 
himself.  He  lay  very  feeble,  and  inquired  once 
or  twice  of  his  state  and  how  he  came  here ;  nor 
was  anything  left  in  his  memory  of  even  coming 
to  the  spring  where  he  had  been  found. 

When  the  doctor  arrived,  he  pronounced  that 
it  would  be  long  —  or  very  short.  He  praised 
their  clean  water  treatment ;  the  wound  was  fortu 
nately  well  up  on  the  shoulder,  and  gave  so  far 
no  bad  signs ;  there  were  not  any  bad  signs ;  and 
the  blood  and  strength  of  the  patient  had  been 
as  few  men's  were;  each  hour  was  now  an  hour- 
nearer  certainty,  and  meanwhile  —  meanwhile  the 
doctor  would  remain  as  long  as  he  could.  He 
had  many  inquiries  to  satisfy.  Dusty  fellows 
would  ride  up,  listen  to  him,  and  reply,  as  they 
rode  away,  "  Don't  yu'  let  him  die,  Doc."  And 
Judge  Henry  sent  over  from  Sunk  Creek  to 
answer  for  any  attendance  or  medicine  that  might 
help  his  foreman.  The  country  was  moved  with 
concern  and  interest;  and  in  Molly's  ears  its 
words  of  good  feeling  seemed  to  unite  and  sum 
up  a  burden,  "  Don't  yu'  let  him  die,  Doc."  The 
Indians  who  had  done  this  were  now  in  military 
custody.  They  had  come  unpermitted  from  a 
southern  reservation,  hunting,  next  thieving,  and 
as  the  slumbering  spirit  roused  in  one  or  two  of 
the  young  and  ambitious,  they  had  ventured  this 
in  the  secret  mountains,  and  perhaps  had  killed 
a  trapper  found  there.  Editors  immediately 
reared  a  tall  war  out  of  it ;  but  from  five  Indians 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  339 

in  a  guard-house  waiting  punishment  not  even  an 
editor  can  supply  war  for  more  than  two  editions, 
and  if  the  recent  alarm  was  still  a  matter  of  talk 
anywhere,  it  was  not  here  in  the  sick-room. 
Whichever  way  the  case  should  turn,  it  was 
through  Molly  alone  (the  doctor  told  her)  that 
the  wounded  man  had  got  this  chance  —  this 
good  chance,  he  repeated.  And  he  told  her  she 
had  not  done  a  woman's  part,  but  a  man's  part, 
and  now  had  no  more  to  do ;  no  more  till  the 
patient  got  well,  and  could  thank  her  in  his  own 
way,  said  the  doctor,  smiling,  and  supposing 
things  that  were  not  so  —  misled  perhaps  by 
Mrs.  Taylor. 

"  I'm  afraid  I'll  be  gone  by  the  time  he  is  well," 
said  Molly,  coldly;  and  the  discreet  physician 
said  ah,  and  that  she  would  find  Bennington  quite 
a  change  from  Bear  Creek. 

But  Mrs.  Taylor  spoke  otherwise,  and  at  that 
the  girl  said :  "  I  shall  stay  as  long  as  I  am 
needed.  I  will  nurse  him.  I  want  to  nurse  him. 
I  will  do  everything  for  him  that  I  can ! "  she  ex 
claimed,  with  force. 

"  And  that  won't  be  anything,  deary,"  said  Mrs. 
Taylor,  harshly.  "  A  year  of  nursing  don't  equal 
a  day  of  sweetheart." 

The  girl  took  a  walk,  —  she  was  of  no  more 
service  in  the  room  at  present,  —  but  she  turned 
without  going  far,  and  Mrs.  Taylor  spied  her  come 
to  lean  over  the  pasture  fence  and  watch  the  two 
horses  —  that  one  the  Virginian  had  "  gentled  " 
for  her,  and  his  own  Monte.  During  this  sus 
pense  came  a  new  call  for  the  doctor,  neighbors 
profiting  by  his  visit  to  Bear  Creek;  and  in  his 


340  THE  VIRGINIAN 

going  away  to  them,  even  under  promise  of  quick 
return,  Mrs.  Taylor  suspected  a  favorable  sign. 
He  kept  his  word  as  punctually  as  had  been  pos 
sible,  arriving  after  some  six  hours  with  a  confi 
dent  face,  and  spending  now  upon  the  patient  a 
care  not  needed,  save  to  reassure  the  bystanders. 
He  spoke  his  opinion  that  all  was  even  better 
than  he  could  have  hoped  it  would  be,  so  soon. 
Here  was  now  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  day; 
the  wound's  look  was  wholesome,  no  further  de 
lirium  had  come,  and  the  fever  had  abated  a 
degree  while  he  was  absent.  He  believed  the 
serious  danger-line  lay  behind,  and  (short  of  the 
unforeseen)  the  man's  deep  untainted  strength 
would  reassert  its  control.  He  had  much  blood 
to  make,  and  must  be  cared  for  during  weeks — 
three,  four,  five  —  there  was  no  saying  how  long 
yet.  These  next  few  days  it  must  be  utter  quiet 
for  him ;  he  must  not  talk  nor  hear  anything 
likely  to  disturb  him ;  and  then  the  time  for 
cheerfulness  and  gradual  company  would  come 
—  sooner  than  later,  the  doctor  hoped.  So  he 
departed,  and  sent  next  day  some  bottles,  with 
further  cautions  regarding  the  wound  and  dirt, 
and  to  say  he  should  be  calling  the  day  after 
to-morrow. 

Upon  that  occasion  he  found  two  patients. 
Molly  Wood  lay  in  bed  at  Mrs.  Taylor's,  filled 
with  apology  and  indignation.  With  little  to  do, 
and  deprived  of  the  strong  stimulant  of  anxiety 
and  action,  her  strength  had  quite  suddenly  left 
her,  so  that  she  had  spoken  only  in  a  sort  of 
whisper.  But  upon  waking  from  a  long  sleep, 
after  Mrs.  Taylor  had  taken  her  firmly,  almost 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  341 

severely,  in  hand,  her  natural  voice  had  returned, 
and  now  the  chief  treatment  the  doctor  gave  her 
was  a  sort  of  scolding,  which  it  pleased  Mrs.  Tay 
lor  to  hear.  The  doctor  even  dropped  a  phrase 
concerning  the  arrogance  of  strong  nerves  in  slen 
der  bodies,  and  of  undertaking  several  people's 
work  when  several  people  were  at  hand  to  do 
it  for  themselves,  and  this  pleased  Mrs.  Taylor 
remarkably.  As  for  the  wounded  man,  he  was 
behaving  himself  properly.  Perhaps  in  another 
week  he  could  be  moved  to  a  more  cheerful  room. 
Just  now,  with  cleanliness  and  pure  air,  any  barn 
would  do. 

"  We  are  real  lucky  to  have  such  a  sensible 
doctor  in  the  country,"  Mrs.  Taylor  observed, 
after  the  physician  had  gone. 

"  No  doubt,"  said  Molly.  "  He  said  my  room 
was  a  barn." 

"  That's  what  you've  made  it,  deary.  But  sick 
men  don't  notice  much." 

Nevertheless,  one  may  believe,  without  going 
widely  astray,  that  illness,  so  far  from  veiling, 
more  often  quickens  the  perceptions  —  at  any 
rate  those  of  the  naturally  keen.  On  a  later  day 
—  and  the  interval  was  brief  —  while  Molly  was 
on  her  second  drive  to  take  the  air  with  Mrs. 
Taylor,  that  lady  informed  her  that  the  sick  man 
had  noticed.  "  And  I  could  not  tell  him  things 
liable  to  disturb  him,"  said  she,  "and  so  I  —  well, 
I  expect  I  just  didn't  exactly  tell  him  the  facts. 
I  said  yes,  you  were  packing  up  for  a  little  visit 
to  your  folks.  They  had  not  seen  you  for  quite 
a  while,  I  said.  And  he  looked  at  those  boxes 
kind  of  silent  like." 


342  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  There's  no  need  to  move  him,"  said  Molly. 
"  It  is  simpler  to  move  them  —  the  boxes.  I 
could  take  out  some  of  my  things,  you  know, 
just  while  he  has  to  be  kept  there.  I  mean  — 
you  see,  if  the  doctor  says  the  room  should  be 
cheerful  —  " 

"  Yes,  deary." 

"  I  will  ask  the  doctor  next  time,"  said  Molly, 
"  if  he  believes  I  am  —  competent  —  to  spread  a 
rug  upon  a  floor."  Molly's  references  to  the  doctor 
were  usually  acid  these  days.  And  this  he  totally 
failed  to  observe,  telling  her  when  he  came,  why, 
to  be  sure !  the  very  thing !  And  if  she  could 
play  cards  or  read  aloud,  or  afford  any  other  light 
distractions,  provided  they  did  not  lead  the  patient 
to  talk  and  tire  himself,  that  -she  would  be  most 
useful.  Accordingly  she  took  over  the  cribbage- 
board,  and  came  with  unexpected  hesitation  face 
to  face  again  with  the  swarthy  man  she  had  saved 
and  tended.  He  was  not  so  swarthy  now,  but  neat, 
with  chin  clean,  and  hair  and  mustache  trimmed 
and  smooth,  and  he  sat  propped  among  pillows 
watching  for  her. 

"  You  are  better,"  she  said,  speaking  first,  and 
with  uncertain  voice. 

"  Yes.  They  have  given  me  awdehs  not  to 
talk,"  said  the  Southerner,  smiling. 

"  Oh,  yes.     Please  do  not  talk  —  not  to-day." 

"  No.  Only  this  "  —  he  looked  at  her,  and  saw 
her  seem  to  shrink  — "  thank  you  for  what  you 
have  done,"  he  said  simply. 

She  took  tenderly  the  hand  he  stretched  to  her ; 
and  upon  these  terms  they  set  to  work  at  crib- 
bage.  She  won,  and  won  again,  and  the  third 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  343 

time  laid  down  her  cards  and  reproached  him  with 
playing  in  order  to  lose. 

"  No,"  he  said,  and  his  eye  wandered  to  the 
boxes.  "  But  my  thoughts  get  away  from  me. 
I'll  be  strong  enough  to  hold  them  on  the  cyards 
next  time,  I  reckon." 

Many  tones  in  his  voice  she  had  heard,  but 
never  the  tone  of  sadness  until  to-day. 

Then  they  played  a  little  more,  and  she  put 
away  the  board  for  this  first  time. 

"  You  are  going  now  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  When  I  have  made  this  room  look  a  little  less 
forlorn.  They  haven't  wanted  to  meddle  with 
my  things,  I  suppose."  And  Molly  stooped  once 
again  among  the  chattels  destined  for  Vermont. 
Out  they  came ;  again  the  bearskin  was  spread 
on  the  floor,  various  possessions  and  ornaments 
went  back  into  their  ancient  niches,  the  shelves 
grew  comfortable  with  books,  and,  last,  some 
flowers  were  stood  on  the  table. 

"  More  like  old  times,"  said  the  Virginian,  but 
sadly. 

"  It's  too  bad,"  said  Molly,  "  you  had  to  be 
brought  into  such  a  looking  place." 

"  And  your  folks  waiting  for  you,"  said  he. 

"  Oh,  I'll  pay  my  visit  later,"  said  Molly,  put 
ting  the  rug  a  trifle  straighten 

"  May  I  ask  one  thing  ?  "  pleaded  the  Virginian, 
and  at  the  gentleness  of  his  voice  her  face  grew  rosy, 
and  she  fixed  her  eyes  on  him  with  a  sort  of  dread. 

"  Anything  that  I  can  answer,"  said  she. 

"  Oh,  yes.  Did  I  tell  yu'  to  quit  me,  and  did 
yu'  load  up  my  gun  and  stay  ?  Was  that  a  real 
business  ?  I  have  been  mixed  up  in  my  haid." 


344  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  That  was  real,"  said  Molly.  "  What  else  was 
there  to  do  ?  " 

"Just  nothing  —  for  such  as  you  !  "he  exclaimed. 
"  My  haid  has  been  mighty  crazy ;  and  that  little 
grandmother  of  yours  yondeh,  she  —  but  I  can't 
just  quite  catch  a-hold  of  these  things"  —  he 
passed  a  hand  over  his  forehead  —  "  so  many  — 
or  else  one  right  along  —  well,  it's  all  foolish 
ness  ! "  he  concluded,  with  something  almost 
savage  in  his  tone.  And  after  she  had  gone  from 
the  cabin  he  lay  very  still,  looking  at  the  minia 
ture  on  the  wall. 

He  was  in  another  sort  of  mood  the  next  time, 
cribbage  not  interesting  him  in  the  least.  "  Your 
folks  will  be  wondering  about  you,"  said  he. 

"  I  don't  think  they  will  mind  which  month  I 
go  to  them,"  said  Molly.  "  Especially  when  they 
know  the  reason." 

"  Don't  let  me  keep  you,  ma'am,"  said  he. 
Molly  stared  at  him;  but  he  pursued,  with  the 
same  edge  lurking  in  his  slow  words :  "  Though 
I'll  never  forget.  How  could  I  forget  any  of  all 
you  have  done  —  and  been  ?  If  there  had  been 
none  of  this,  why,  I  had  enough  to  remember! 
But  please  don't  stay,  ma'am.  We'll  say  I  had 
a  claim  when  yu'  found  me  pretty  well  dead,  but 
I'm  gettin'  well,  yu'  see  —  right  smart,  too!" 

"  I  can't  understand,  indeed  I  can't,"  said  Molly, 
"  why  you're  talking  so !  " 

He  seemed  to  have  certain  moods  when  he 
would  address  her  as  "  ma'am,"  and  this  she  did 
not  like,  but  could  not  prevent. 

"  Oh,  a  sick  man  is  funny.  And  yu'  know  I'm 
grateful  to  you." 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  345 

"  Please  say  no  more  about  that,  or  I  shall  go 
this  afternoon.  I  don't  want  to  go.  I  am  not 
ready.  I  think  I  had  better  read  something 


now." 


"  Why,  yes.  That's  cert'nly  a  good  notion. 
Why,,  this  is  the  best  show  you'll  ever  get  to 
give  me  education.  Won't  yu'  please  try  that 
Emma  book  now,  ma'am  ?  Listening  to  you  will 
be  different."  This  was  said  with  softness  and 
humility. 

Uncertain  —  as  his  gravity  often  left  her  — 
precisely  what  he  meant  by  what  he  said, 
Molly  proceeded  with  Emma;  slackly  at  first, 
but  soon  with  the  enthusiasm  that  Miss  Austen 
invariably  gave  her.  She  held  the  volume  and 
read  away  at  it,  commenting  briefly,  and  then, 
finishing  a  chapter  of  the  sprightly  classic,  found 
her  pupil  slumbering  peacefully.  There  was  no 
uncertainty  about  that. 

"  You  couldn't  be  doing  a  healthier  thing  for 
him,  deary,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor.  "  If  it  gets  to 
make  him  wakeful,  try  something  harder."  This 
was  the  lady's  scarcely  sympathetic  view. 

But  it  turned  out  to  be  not  obscurity  in  which 
Miss  Austen  sinned. 

When  Molly  next  appeared  at  the  Virginian's 
threshold,  he  said  plaintively,  "  I  reckon  I  am  a 
dunce."  And  he  sued  for  pardon.  "  When  I 
waked  up,"  he  said,  "  I  was  ashamed  of  myself 
for  a  plumb  half-hour."  Nor  could  she  doubt 
this  day  that  he  meant  what  he  said.  His  mood 
was  again  serene  and  gentle,  and  without  refer 
ring  to  his  singular  words  that  had  distressed  her, 
he  made  her  feel  his  contrition,  even  in  his  silence. 


346  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  I  am  right  glad  you  have  come,"  he  said.  And 
as  he  saw  her  going  to  the  bookshelf,  he  continued, 
with  diffidence :  "  As  regyards  that  Emma  book, 
yu'  see  —  yu'  see,  the  doin's  and  sayin's  of  folks 
like  them  are  above  me.  But  I  think  "  (he  spoke 
most  diffidently),  "  if  yu'  could  read  me  something 
that  was  about  something,  I  —  I'd  be  liable  to 
keep  awake."  And  he  smiled  with  a  certain  shy 
ness. 

"  Something  about  something  ?  "  queried  Molly, 
at  a  loss. 

"  Why,  yes.  Shakespeare.  Henry  the  Fourth. 
The  British  king  is  fighting,  and  there  is  his  son 
the  prince.  He  cert'nly  must  have  been  a  jim- 
dandy  boy  if  that  is  all  true.  Only  he  would  go 
around  town  with  a  mighty  triflin'  gang.  They 
sported  and  they  held  up  citizens.  And  his  father 
hated  his  travelling  with  trash  like  them.  It  was 
right  natural  —  the  boy  and  the  old  man!  But 
the  boy  showed  himself  a  man  too.  He  killed  a 
big  fighter  on  the  other  side  who  was  another  jim- 
dandy —  and  he  was  sorry  for  having  it  to  do." 
The  Virginian  warmed  to  his  recital.  "  I  under 
stand  most  all  of  that.  There  was  a  fat  man 
kept  everybody  laughing.  He  was  awful  natural 
too ;  except  yu'  don't  commonly  meet  'em  so  fat. 
But  the  prince  —  that  play  is  bed-rock,  ma'am! 
Have  you  got  something  like  that  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  so,"  she  replied.  "  I  believe  I  see 
what  you  would  appreciate." 

She  took  her  Browning,  her  idol,  her  imagined 
affinity.  For  the  pale  decadence  of  New  England 
had  somewhat  watered  her  good  old  Revolution 
ary  blood  too,  and  she  was  inclined  to  think  under 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  347 

glass  and  to  live  underdone  —  when  there  were 
no  Indians  to  shoot !  She  would  have  joyed  to 
venture  "  Paracelsus  "  on  him,  and  some  lengthy 
rhymed  discourses ;  and  she  fondly  turned  leaves 
and  leaves  of  her  pet  doggerel  analytics.  "  Pippa 
Passes  "  and  others  she  had  to  skip,  from  discreet 
motives  —  pages  which  he  would  have  doubtless 
stayed  awake  at ;  but  she  chose  a  poem  at  length. 
This  was  better  than  Emma,  he  pronounced. 
And  short.  The  horse  was  a  good  horse.  He 
thought  a  man  whose  horse  must  not  play  out  on 
him  would  watch  the  ground  he  was  galloping 
over  for  holes,  and  not  be  likely  to  see  what  color 
the  rims  of  his  animal's  eye-sockets  were.  You 
could  not  see  them  if  you  sat  as  you  ought  to  for 
such  a  hard  ride.  Of  the  next  piece  that  she 
read  him  he  thought  still  better.  "  And  it  is 
short,"  said  he.  "  But  the  last  part  drops." 

Molly  instantly  exacted  particulars. 

"  The  soldier  should  not  have  told  the  general 
he  was  killed,"  stated  the  cow-puncher. 

'^Vhat  should  he  have  told  him,  I'd  like  to 
know  ?  "  said  Molly. 

"  Why,  just  nothing.  If  the  soldier  could  ride 
out  of  the  battle  all  shot  up,  and  tell  his  general 
about  their  takin'  the  town  —  that  was  being 
gritty,  yu'  see.  But  that  truck  at  the  finish  — 
will  yu'  please  say  it  again  ?  " 

So  Molly  read  :  — 

" '  You're  wounded  ! '      '  Nay,'  the  soldier's  pride 

Touched  to  the  quick,  he  said, 
'  I'm  killed,  sire  ! '     And,  his  chief  beside, 
Smiling  the  boy  fell  dead." 


348  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"'Nay,  I'm  killed,  sire,'"  drawled  the  Virginian, 
amiably ;  for  (symptom  of  convalescence)  his 
freakish  irony  was  revived  in  him.  "  Now  a  man 
who  was  man  enough  to  act  like  he  did,  yu'  see, 
would  fall  dead  without  mentioning  it." 

None  of  Molly's  sweet  girl  friends  had  ever  thus 
challenged  Mr.  Browning.  They  had  been  wont 
to  cluster  over  him  with  a  joyous  awe  that  deep 
ened  proportionally  with  their  misunderstanding. 
Molly  paused  to  consider  this  novelty  of  view 
about  the  soldier.  "  He  was  a  Frenchman,  you 
know,"  she  said,  under  inspiration. 

"  A  Frenchman,"  murmured  the  grave  cow- 
puncher.  "  I  never  knowed  a  Frenchman,  but  I 
reckon  they  might  perform  that  class  of  foolish 


ness." 


"  But  why  was  it  foolish  ?  "  she  cried.  "  His 
soldier's  pride  —  don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  No." 

Molly  now  burst  into  a  luxury  of  discussion. 
She  leaned  toward  her  cow-puncher  with  bright 
eyes  searching  his ;  with  elbow  on  knee  and  hand 
propping  chin,  her  lap  became  a  slant,  and  from 
it  Browning  the  poet  slid  and  toppled,  and  lay 
unrescued.  For  the  slow  cow-puncher  unfolded 
his  notions  of  masculine  courage  and  modesty 
(though  he  did  not  deal  in  such  high-sounding 
names),  and  Molly  forgot  everything  to  listen  to 
him,  as  he  forgot  himself  and  his  inveterate  shy 
ness  and  grew  talkative  to  her.  "  I  would  never 
have  supposed  that ! "  she  would  exclaim  as  she 
heard  him ;  or,  presently  again,  "  I  never  had  such 
an  idea  !  "  And  her  mind  opened  with  delight  to 
these  new  things  which  came  from  the  man's  mind 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  349 

so  simple  and  direct.  To  Browning  they  did  come 
back,  but  the  Virginian,  though  interested,  con 
ceived  a  dislike  for  him.  "  He  is  a  smarty,"  said 
he,  once  or  twice. 

"  Now  here  is  something,"  said  Molly.  "  I  have 
never  known  what  to  think." 

"  Oh,  Heavens !  "  murmured  the  sick  man,  smil 
ing.  "  Is  it  short  ?  " 

"  Very  short.  Now  please  attend."  And  she 
read  him  twelve  lines  about  a  lover  who  rowed 
to  a  beach  in  the  dusk,  crossed  a  field,  tapped  at 
a  pane,  and  was  admitted. 

"  That  is  the  best  yet,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  There's  only  one  thing  yu'  can  think  about 
that." 

"  But  wait,"  said  the  girl,  swiftly.  "  Here  is  how 
they  parted :  — 

"  Round  the  cape  of  a  sudden  came  the  sea, 

And  the  sun  looked  over  the  mountain's  rim  — 
And  straight  was  a  path  of  gold  for  him, 
And  the  need  of  a  world  of  men  for  me." 

"  That  is  very,  very  true,"  murmured  the  Vir 
ginian,  dropping  his  eyes  from  the  girl's  intent 
ones. 

"  Had  they  quarrelled  ?  "  she  inquired. 

"Oh,  no!" 

"But  —  " 

"  I  reckon  he  loved  her  very  much." 

"  Then  you're  sure  they  hadn't  quarrelled  ?  " 

"  Dead  sure,  ma'am.  He  would  come  back 
afteh  he  had  played  some  more  of  the  game." 

"  The  game  ?  " 

"  Life,    ma'am.     Whatever   he   was   a-doin'   in 


350  THE   VIRGINIAN 

the   world   of    men.      That's    a   bed-rock    piece, 
ma'am ! " 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  why  you  think  it's  so  much 
better  than  some  of  the  others." 

"  I  could  sca'cely  explain,"  answered  the  man. 
"  But  that  writer  does  know  something." 

"  I  am  glad  they  hadn't  quarrelled,"  said  Molly, 
thoughtfully.  And  she  began  to  like  having  her 
opinions  refuted. 

His  bandages,  becoming  a  little  irksome,  had 
to  be  shifted,  and  this  turned  their  discourse  from 
literature  to  Wyoming;  and  Molly  inquired,  had 
he  ever  been  shot  before  ?  Only  once,  he  told 
her.  "  I  have  been  lucky  in  having  few  fusses," 
said  he.  "  I  hate  them.  If  a  man  has  to  be 
killed  —  " 

"  You  never  — "  broke  in  Molly.  She  had 
started  back  a  little.  "  Well,"  she  added  hastily, 
don't  tell  me  if  —  " 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  I  got  one  of  those 
Indians,"  he  said  quietly.  "  But  I  wasn't  waitin' 
to  see!  But  I  came  mighty  near  doing  for  a 
white  man  that  day.  He  had  been  hurtin' 
hawss." 

"Hurting?"  said  Molly. 

"  Injurin.'  I  will  not  tell  yu'  about  that.  It 
would  hurt  yu'  to  hear  such  things.  But  hawsses 
—  don't  they  depend  on  us?  Ain't  they  some- 
thin'  like  children?  I  did  not  lay  up  the  mai 
very  bad.  He  was  able  to  travel  'most  right 
away.  Why,  you'd  have  wanted  to  kill  hii 
yourself ! " 

So  the  Virginian  talked,  nor  knew  what  he  was 
doing  to  the  girl.  Nor  was  she  aware  of  what 


GRANDMOTHER   STARK  351 

she  was  receiving  from  him  as  he  unwittingly 
spoke  himself  out  to  her  in  these  Browning  meet 
ings  they  held  each  day.  But  Mrs.  Taylor  grew 
pleased.  The  kindly  dame  would  sometimes 
cross  the  road  to  see  if  she  were  needed,  and  steal 
away  again  after  a  peep  at  the  window.  There, 
inside,  among  the  restored  home  treasures,  sat 
the  two :  the  rosy  alert  girl,  sweet  as  she  talked 
or  read  to  him ;  and  he,  the  grave,  half -weak  giant 
among  his  wraps,  watching  her. 

Of  her  delayed  home  visit  he  never  again  spoke, 
either  to  her  or  to  Mrs.  Taylor ;  and  Molly  veered 
aside  from  any  trend  of  talk  she  foresaw  was 
leading  toward  that  subject.  But  in  those  hours 
when  no  visitors  came,  and  he  was  by  himself  in 
the  quiet,  he  would  lie  often  sombrely  contem 
plating  the  girl's  room,  her  little  dainty  knick- 
knacks,  her  home  photographs,  all  the  delicate 
manifestations  of  what  she  came  from  and  what 
she  was.  Strength  was  flowing  back  into  him 
each  day,  and  Judge  Henry's  latest  messenger 
had  brought  him  clothes  and  mail  from  Sunk 
Creek  and  many  inquiries  of  kindness,  and  re 
turned  taking  the  news  of  the  cow-puncher's  im 
provement,  and  how  soon  he  would  be  permitted 
the  fresh  air.  Hence  Molly  found  him  waiting  in 
a  flannel  shirt  of  highly  becoming  shade,  and  with 
a  silk  handkerchief  knotted  round  his  throat ;  and 
he  told  her  it  was  good  to  feel  respectable  again. 

She  had  come  to  read  to  him  for  the  allotted 
time ;  and  she  threw  around  his  shoulders  the 
scarlet  and  black  Navajo  blanket,  striped  with  its 
splendid  zigzags  of  barbarity.  Thus  he  half  sat, 
half  leaned,  languid  but  at  ease.  In  his  lap  lay 


352  THE   VIRGINIAN 

one  of  the  letters  brought  over  by  the  messenger ; 
and  though  she  was  midway  in  a  book  that  en 
gaged  his  full  attention  —  David  Copperfield — 
his  silence  and  absent  look  this  morning  stopped 
her,  and  she  accused  him  of  not  attending. 

"No,"  he  admitted;  "  I  am  thinking  of  some 
thing  else." 

She  looked  at  him  with  that  apprehension 
which  he  knew. 

"  It  had  to  come,"  said  he.  "  And  to-day  I  see 
my  thoughts  straighter  than  I've  been  up  to  man 
aging  since  —  since  my  haid  got  clear.  And  now 
I  must  say  these  thoughts  —  if  I  can,  if  I  can  ! " 
He  stopped.  His  eyes  were  intent  upon  her ;  one 
hand  was  gripping  the  arm  of  his  chair.  • 

"  You  promised  —  "  trembled  Molly. 

"  I  promised  you  should  love  me,"  he  sternly 
interrupted.  "  Promised  that  to  myself.  I  have 
broken  that  word." 

She  shut  David  Copperfield  mechanically,  and 
grew  white. 

"  Your  letter  has  come  to  me  hyeh,"  he  con 
tinued,  gentle  again. 

"  My  —  "     She  had  forgotten  it. 

"  The   letter   you    wrote    to    tell    me   good-by. 
You  wrote  it  a  little  while  ago  —  not  a  month  yel 
but  it's  away  and  away  long  gone  for  me." 

"  I  have  never  let  you  know  —  "  began  Molly. 

"  The  doctor,"  he  interrupted  once  more,  but 
very  gently  now,  "he  gave  awdehs  I  must 
kept  quiet.  I  reckon  yu'  thought  tellin'  rru 
might  —  " 

"  Forgive  me  !  "  cried  the  girl.  "  Indeed  I  ought 
to  have  told  you  sooner  !  Indeed  I  had  no  excuse!' 


GRANDMOTHER  STARK  353 

"Why,  should  yu'  tell  me  if  yu'  preferred  not  ? 
You  had  written.  And  you  speak  "  (he  lifted  the 
letter)  "  of  never  being  able  to  repay  kindness ; 
but  you  have  turned  the  tables.  I  can  never  re 
pay  you  by  anything!  by  anything!  So  I  had 
figured  I  would  just  jog  back  to  Sunk  Creek  and 
let  you  get  away,  if  you  did  not  want  to  say  that 
kind  of  good-by.  For  I  saw  the  boxes.  Mrs. 
Taylor  is  too  nice  a  woman  to  know  the  trick  of 
lyin',  and  she  could  not  deceive  me.  I  have 
knowed  yu'  were  going  away  for  good  ever  since 
I  saw  those  boxes.  But  now  hyeh  comes  your 
letter,  and  it  seems  no  way  but  I  must  speak.  I 
have  thought  a  deal,  lyin'  in  this  room.  And  — 
to-day  —  I  can  say  what  I  have  thought.  I  could 
not  make  you  happy."  He  stopped,  but  she  did 
not  answer.  His  voice  had  grown  softer  than 
whispering,  but  yet  was  not  a  whisper.  From  its 
quiet  syllables  she  turned  away,  blinded  with  sud 
den  tears. 

"  Once,  I  thought  love  must  surely  be  enough," 
he  continued.  "And  I  thought  if  I  could  make 
you  love  me,  you  could  learn  me  to  be  less  —  less 
—  more  your  kind.  And  I  think  I  could  give 
you  a  pretty  good  sort  of  love.  But  that  don't 
help  the  little  mean  pesky  things  of  day  by  day 
that  make  roughness  or  smoothness  for  folks  tied 
together  so  awful  close.  Mrs.  Taylor  hyeh  —  she 
don't  know  anything  better  than  Taylor  does. 
She  don't  want  anything  he  can't  give  her.  Her 
friends  will  do  for  him  and  his  for  her.  And 
when  I  dreamed  of  you  in  my  home  — "  he 
closed  his  eyes  and  drew  a  long  breath.  At  last 
he  looked  at  her  again.  "  This  is  no  country  for 


2A 


354  THE   VIRGINIAN 

a  lady.  Will  yu'  forget  and  forgive  the  bothering 
I  have  done  ?  " 

"  Oh !  "  cried  Molly.  "  Oh ! "  And  she  put  her 
hands  to  her  eyes.  She  had  risen  and  stood  with 
her  face  covered. 

"  I  surely  had  to  tell  you  this  all  out,  didn't  I  ?  " 
said  the  cow-puncher,  faintly,  in  his  chair. 

"  Oh  ! "  said  Molly  again. 

"  I  have  put  it  clear  how  it  is,"  he  pursued. 
"  I  ought  to  have  seen  from  the  start  I  was  not 
the  sort  to  keep  you  happy." 

"But,"  said  Molly — "but  I  —  you  ought  — 
please  try  to  keep  me  happy ! "  And  sinking 
by  his  chair,  she  hid  her  face  on  his  knees. 

Speechless,  he  bent  down  and  folded  her  round, 
putting  his  hands  on  the  hair  that  had  been  al 
ways  his  delight.  Presently  he  whispered :  — 

"  You  have  beat  me ;  how  can  I  fight  this  ?  " 

She  answered  nothing.  The  Navajo's  scarlet 
and  black  folds  fell  over  both.  Not  with  words, 
not  even  with  meeting  eyes,  did  the  two  plight 
their  troth  in  this  first  new  hour.  So  they  re 
mained  long,  the  fair  head  nesting  in  the  great 
arms,  and  the  black  head  laid  against  it,  while 
over  the  silent  room  presided  the  little  Grand 
mother  Stark  in  her  frame,  rosy,  blue,  and  flaxen, 
not  quite  familiar,  not  quite  smiling. 


XXVIII 

NO    DREAM    TO    WAKE    FROM 

FOR  a  long  while  after  she  had  left  him,  he  lay 
still,  stretched  in  his  chair.  His  eyes  were  fixed 
steadily  upon  the  open  window  and  the  sunshine 
outside.  There  he  watched  the  movement  of  the 
leaves  upon  the  green  cottonwoods.  What  had 
she  said  to  him  when  she  went  ?  She  had  said, 
"  Now  I  know  how  unhappy  I  have  been."  These 
sweet  words  he  repeated  to  himself  over  and  over, 
fearing  in  some  way  that  he  might  lose  them. 
They  almost  slipped  from  him  at  times;  but  with 
a  jump  of  his  mind  he  caught  them  again  and 
held  them,  —  and  then  — 

"  I'm  not  all  strong  yet,"  he  murmured.  "  I 
must  have  been  very  sick."  And,  weak  from  his 
bullet  wound  and  fever,  he  closed  his  eyes  with 
out  knowing  it.  There  were  the  cottonwoods 
again,  waving,  waving ;  and  he  felt  the  cool,  pleas 
ant  air  from  the  window.  He  saw  the  light  draught 
stir  the  ashes  in  the  great  stone  fireplace.  "  I 
have  been  asleep,"  he  said.  "  But  she  was  cert'nly 
here  herself.  Oh,  yes.  Surely.  She  always  has 
to  go  away  every  day  because  the  doctor  says  — 
why,  she  was  readin' ! "  he  broke  off,  aloud. 
"  David  Copperfield?  There  it  was  on  the  floor. 
"  Aha !  nailed  you  anyway !  "  he  said.  "  But  how 

355 


THE  VIRGINIAN 

scared  I  am  of  myself !  — You're  a  fool.  Of  course 
it's  so.  No  fever  business  could  make  yu'  feel 
like  this." 

His  eye  dwelt  awhile  on  the  fireplace,  next  on 
the  deer  horns,  and  next  it  travelled  toward  the 
shelf  where  her  books  were ;  but  it  stopped  before 
reaching  them. 

"  Better  say  off  the  names  before  I  look,"  said 
he.  "  I've  had  a  heap  o'  misleading  visions.  And 
—  and  supposin'  —  if  this  was  just  my  sickness 
fooling  me  some  more —  I'd  want  to  die.  I  would 
die!  Now  we'll  see.  If  Copperfreld  is  on  the 
floor  "  (he  looked  stealthily  to  be  sure  that  it  was), 
"  then  she  was  readin'  to  me  when  everything  hap 
pened,  and  then  there  should  be  a  hole  in  the 
book  row,  top,  left.  Top,  left,"  he  repeated,  and 
warily  brought  his  glance  to  the  place.  "  Proved  !  " 
he  cried.  "  It's  all  so  !  " 

He  now  noticed  the  miniature  of  Grandmother 
Stark.  "  You  are  awful  like  her,"  he  whispered. 
"  You're  cert'nly  awful  like  her.  May  I  kiss  you 
too,  ma'am  ? " 

Then,  tottering,  he  rose  from  his  sick-chair. 
The  Navajo  blanket  fell  from  his  shoulders,  and 
gradually,  experimentally,  he  stood  upright.  Help 
ing  himself  with  his  hand  slowly  along  the  wall 
of  the  room,  and  round  to  the  opposite  wall  with 
many  a  pause,  he  reached  the  picture,  and  very 
gently  touched  the  forehead  of  the  ancestral  dame 
with  his  lips.  "  I  promise  to  make  your  little  girl 
happy,"  he  whispered. 

He  almost  fell  in  stooping  to  the  portrait,  but 
caught  himself  and  stood  carefully  quiet,  trem 
bling,  and  speaking  to  himself.  "  Where  is  your 


"  '  I  promise  to  make  your  little  girl  happy,'  he  whispered/ 


NO   DREAM   TO   WAKE   FROM  357 

strength  ?  "  he  demanded.  "  I  reckon  it  is  joy  that 
has  unsteadied  your  laigs." 

The  door  opened.  It  was  she,  come  back  with 
his  dinner. 

"  My  Heavens  !  "  she  said  ;  and  setting  the  tray 
down,  she  rushed  to  him.  She  helped  him  back 
to  his  chair,  and  covered  him  again.  He  had  suf 
fered  no  hurt,  but  she  clung  to  him;  and  pres 
ently  he  moved  and  let  himself  kiss  her  with  fuller 
passion. 

"  I  will  be  good,"  he  whispered. 

"  You  must,"  she  said.     "  You  looked  so  pale !  " 

"  You  are  speakin'  low  like  me,"  he  answered. 
"  But  we  have  no  dream  we  can  wake  from." 

Had  she  surrendered  on  this  day  to  her  cow- 
puncher,  her  wild  man  ?  Was  she  forever  wholly 
his  ?  Had  the  Virginian's  fire  so  melted  her  heart 
that  no  rift  in  it  remained  ?  So  she  would  have 
thought  if  any  thought  had  come  to  her.  But  in 
his  arms  to-day,  thought  was  lost  in  something 
more  divine. 


XXIX 

WORD    TO    BENNINGTON 

THEY  kept  their  secret  for  a  while,  or  at  least 
they  had  that  special  joy  of  believing  that  no  one 
in  all  the  world  but  themselves  knew  this  that  had 
happened  to  them.  But  I  think  that  there  was  one 
person  who  knew  how  to  keep  a  secret  even  better 
than  these  two  lovers.  Mrs.  Taylor  made  no  re 
marks  to  any  one  whatever.  Nobody  on  Bear 
Creek,  however,  was  so  extraordinarily  cheerful 
and  serene.  That  peculiar  severity  which  she 
had  manifested  in  the  days  when  Molly  was  pack 
ing  her  possessions,  had  now  altogether  changed. 
In  these  days  she  was  endlessly  kind  and  indul 
gent  to  her  "  deary."  Although,  as  a  housekeeper, 
Mrs.  Taylor  believed  in  punctuality  at  meals,  and 
visited  her  offspring  with  discipline  when  they 
were  late  without  good  and  sufficient  excuse, 
Molly  was  now  exempt  from  the  faintest  hint  of 
reprimand. 

"  And  it's  not  because  you're  not  her  mother," 
said  George  Taylor,  bitterly.  "  She  used  to  get 
it,  too.  And  we're  the  only  ones  that  get  it. 
There  she  comes,  just  as  we're  about  ready  to 
quit !  Aren't  you  going  to  say  nothing  to  her  ?  " 

"  George,"  said  his  mother,  "  when  you've  saved 
a  man's  life  it'll  be  time  for  you  to  talk." 

So  Molly  would  come  in  to  her  meals  with  much 

358 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  359 

irregularity;  and  her  remarks  about  the  imper 
fections  of  her  clock  met  with  no  rejoinder.  And 
yet  one  can  scarcely  be  so  severe  as  had  been 
Mrs.  Taylor,  and  become  wholly  as  mild  as  milk. 
There  was  one  recurrent  event  that  could  invari 
ably  awaken  hostile  symptoms  in  the  dame. 
Whenever  she  saw  a  letter  arrive  with  the  Ben- 
nington  postmark  upon  it,  she  shook  her  fist  at 
that  letter. 

"  What's  family  pride  ?  "  she  would  say  to  her 
self.  "  Taylor  could  be  a  Son  of  the  Revolution 
if  he'd  a  mind  to.  I  wonder  if  she  has  told  her 
folks  yet." 

And  when  letters  directed  to  Bennington  would 
go  out,  Mrs.  Taylor  would  inspect  every  one  as  if 
its  envelope  ought  to  grow  transparent  beneath 
her  eyes,  and  yield  up  to  her  its  great  secret,  if  it 
had  one.  But  in  truth  these  letters  had  no  great 
secret  to  yield  up,  until  one  day  —  yes;  one 
day  Mrs.  Taylor  would  have  burst,  were  bursting 
a  thing  that  people  often  did.  Three  letters  were 
the  cause  of  this  emotion  on  Mrs.  Taylor's  part; 
one  addressed  to  Bennington,  one  to  Dunbarton, 
and  the  third  —  here  was  the  great  excitement  — 
to  Bennington,  but  not  in  the  little  schoolmarm's 
delicate  writing.  A  man's  hand  had  traced  those 
plain,  steady  vowels  and  consonants. 

"  It's  come ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Taylor,  at  this 
sight.  "  He  has  written  to  her  mother  himself." 

That  is  what  the  Virginian  had  done,  and  here 
is  how  it  had  come  about. 

The  sick  man's  convalescence  was  achieved. 
The  weeks  had  brought  back  to  him,  not  his 
whole  strength  yet  —  that  could  come  only  by 


360  THE  VIRGINIAN 

many  miles  of  open  air  on  the  back  of  Monte ; 
but  he  was  strong  enough  now  to  get  strength. 
When  a  patient  reaches  this  stage,  he  is  out  of 
the  woods. 

He  had  gone  for  a  little  walk  with  his  nurse. 
They  had  taken  (under  the  doctor's  recommenda 
tion)  several  such  little  walks,  beginning  with  a 
five-minute  one,  and  at  last  to-day  accomplishing 
three  miles. 

"  No,  it  has  not  been  too  far,"  said  he.  "  I  am 
afraid  I  could  walk  twice  as  far." 

"Afraid?" 

"  Yes.  Because  it  means  I  can  go  to  work 
again.  This  thing  we  have  had  together  is 


over." 


For  reply,  she  leaned  against  him. 

"  Look  at  you  !  "  he  said.  "  Only  a  little  while 
ago  you  had  to  help  me  stand  on  my  laigs.  And 
now  —  "  For  a  while  there  was  silence  between 
them.  "  I  have  never  had  a  right  down  sickness 
before,"  he  presently  went  on.  "  Not  to  remember, 
that  is.  If  any  person  had  told  me  I  could  enjoy 
such  a  thing  — "  He  said  no  more,  for  she 
reached  up,  and  no  more  speech  was  possible. 

"  How  long  has  it  been  ?  "  he  next  asked  her. 

She  told  him. 

"  Well,  if  it  could  be  forever  —  no.  Not  for 
ever  with  no  more  than  this.  I  reckon  I'd  be  sick 
again !  But  if  it  could  be  forever  with  just  you 
and  me,  and  no  one  else  to  bother  with.  But 
any  longer  would  not  be  doing  right  by  your 
mother.  She  would  have  a  right  to  think  ill  of 


me." 


"  Oh !  "  said  the  girl.     "  Let  us  keep  it." 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  361 

"  Not  after  I  am  gone.  Your  mother  must  be 
told." 

"  It  seems  so  —  can't  we  —  oh,  why  need  any 
body  know  ? " 

"  Your  mother  ain't  *  anybody.'  She  is  your 
mother.  I  feel  mighty  responsible  to  her  for 
what  I  have  done." 

"But  I  did  it!" 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  Your  mother  will  not 
think  so.  I  am  going  to  write  to  her  to-day." 

"  You !  Write  to  my  mother !  Oh,  then  every 
thing  will  be  so  different !  They  will  all  —  " 
Molly  stopped  before  the  rising  visions  of  Ben- 
nington.  Upon  the  fairy-tale  that  she  had  been 
living  with  her  cow-boy  lover  broke  the  voices  of 
the  world.  She  could  hear  them  from  afar.  She 
could  see  the  eyes  of  Bennington  watching  this 
man  at  her  side.  She  could  imagine  the  ears 
of  Bennington  listening  for  slips  in  his  English. 
There  loomed  upon  her  the  round  of  visits  which 
they  would  have  to  make.  The  ringing  of  the 
door-bells,  the  waiting  in  drawing-rooms  for  the 
mistress  to  descend  and  utter  her  prepared  con 
gratulations,  while  her  secret  eye  devoured  the 
Virginian's  appearance,  and  his  manner  of  stand 
ing  and  sitting.  He  would  be  wearing  gloves, 
instead  of  fringed  gauntlets  of  buckskin.  In  a 
smooth  black  coat  and  waistcoat,  how  could  they 
perceive  the  man  he  was?  During  those  short 
formal  interviews,  what  would  they  ever  find  out 
of  the  things  that  she  knew  about  him?  The 
things  for  which  she  was  proud  of  him?  He 
would  speak  shortly  and  simply ;  they  would  say, 
"  Oh,  yes ! "  and  "  How  different  you  must  find 


362  THE  VIRGINIAN 

this  from  Wyoming!"  —  and  then,  after  the  door 
was  shut  behind  his  departing  back  they  would 
say —  He  would  be  totally  underrated,  not  in 
the  least  understood.  Why  should  he  be  sub 
jected  to  this?  He  should  never  be! 

Now  in  all  these  half-formed,  hurried,  distress 
ing  thoughts  which  streamed  through  the  girl's 
mind,  she  altogether  forgot  one  truth.  True  it 
was  that  the  voice  of  the  world  would  speak  as 
she  imagined.  True  it  was  that  in  the  eyes  of 
her  family  and  acquaintance  this  lover  of  her 
choice  would  be  examined  even  more  like  a 
specimen  than  are  other  lovers  upon  these  occa 
sions:  and  all  accepted  lovers  have  to  face  this 
ordeal  of  being  treated  like  specimens  by  the 
other  family.  But  dear  me !  most  of  us  manage 
to  stand  it,  don't  we  ?  It  isn't,  perhaps,  the  most 
delicious  experience  that  we  can  recall  in  connec 
tion  with  our  engagement.  But  it  didn't  prove 
fatal.  We  got  through  it  somehow.  We  dined 
with  Aunt  Jane,  and  wined  with  Uncle  Joseph, 
and  perhaps  had  two  fingers  given  to  us  by  old 
Cousin  Horatio,  whose  enormous  fortune  was  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  everybody.  And  per 
haps  fragments  of  the  other  family's  estimate  of 
us  subsequently  reached  our  own  ears.  But  if 
a  chosen  lover  cannot  stand  being  treated  as  a 
specimen  by  the  other  family,  he's  a  very  weak 
vessel,  and  not  worth  any  good  girl's  love.  That's 
all  I  can  say  for  him. 

Now  the  Virginian  was  scarcely  what  even  his 
enemy  would  term  a  weak  vessel ;  and  Molly's 
jealousy  of  the  impression  which  he  might  make 
upon  Bennington  was  vastly  superfluous.  She 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  363 

should  have  known  that  he  would  indeed  care  to 
make  a  good  impression ;  but  that  such  anxiety 
on  his  part  would  be  wholly  for  her  sake,  that  in 
the  eyes  of  her  friends  she  might  stand  justified  in 
taking  him  for  her  wedded  husband.  So  far  as  he 
was  concerned  apart  from  her,  Aunt  Jane  and 
Uncle  Joseph  might  say  anything  they  pleased, 
or  think  anything  they  pleased.  His  character 
was  open  for  investigation.  Judge  Henry  would 
vouch  for  him. 

This  is  what  he  would  have  said  to  his  sweet 
heart  had  she  but  revealed  to  him  her  perturba 
tions.  But  she  did  not  reveal  them ;  and  they 
were  not  of  the  order  that  he  with  his  nature  was 
likely  to  divine.  I  do  not  know  what  good  would 
have  come  from  her  speaking  out  to  him,  unless 
that  perfect  understanding  between  lovers  which 
indeed  is  a  good  thing.  But  I  do  not  believe  that 
he  could  have  reassured  her;  and  I  am  certain 
that  she  could  not  have  prevented  his  writing  to 
her  mother. 

"  Well,  then,"  she  sighed  at  last,  "  if  you  think 
so,  I  will  tell  her." 

That  sigh  of  hers,  be  it  well  understood,  was 
not  only  because  of  those  far-off  voices  which  the 
world  would  in  consequence  of  her  news  be  lifting 
presently.  It  came  also  from  bidding  farewell  to 
the  fairy-tale  which  she  must  leave  now;  that 
land  in  which  she  and  he  had  been  living  close 
together  alone,  unhindered,  unmindful  of  all 
things. 

"  Yes,  you  will  tell  her,"  said  her  lover.  "  And 
I  must  tell  her  too." 

"  Both  of  us  ?  "  questioned  the  girl. 


364  THE  VIRGINIAN 

What  would  he  say  to  her  mother?  How 
would  her  mother  like  such  a  letter  as  he  would 
write  to  her  ?  Suppose  he  should  misspell  a  word  ? 
Would  not  sentences  from  him  at  this  time  — 
written  sentences  —  be  a  further  bar  to  his  wel 
come  acceptance  at  Bennington  ? 

"  Why  don't  you  send  messages  by  me  ? "  she 
asked  him. 

He  shook  his  head.  "  She  is  not  going  to  like 
it,  anyway,"  he  answered.  "I  must  speak  to  her 
direct.  It  would  be  like  shirking." 

Molly  saw  how  true  his  instinct  was  here ;  and 
a  little  flame  shot  upward  from  the  glow  of  her 
love  and  pride  in  him.  Oh,  if  they  could  all  only 
know  that  he  was  like  this  when  you  understood 
him  !  She  did  not  dare  say  out  to  him  what  her  fear 
was  about  this  letter  of  his  to  her  mother.  She 
did  not  dare  because  —  well,  because  she  lacked 
a  little  faith.  That  is  it,  I  am  afraid.  And  for 
that  sin  she  was  her  own  punishment.  For  in 
this  day,  and  in  many  days  to  come,  the  pure  joy 
of  her  love  was  vexed  and  clouded,  all  through  a 
little  lack  of  faith;  while  for  him,  perfect  in  his 
faith,  his  joy  was  like  crystal. 

"  Tell  me  what  you're  going  to  write,"  she  said. 

He  smiled  at  her.     "  No." 

"  Aren't  you  going  to  let  me  see  it  when  it's 
done?" 

"  No."  Then  a  freakish  look  came  into  his 
eyes.  "  I'll  let  yu'  see  anything  I  write  to  othei 
women."  And  he  gave  her  one  of  his  long  kisses. 
"  Let's  get  through  with  it  together,"  he  suggested, 
when  they  were  once  more  in  his  sick-room,  that 
room  which  she  had  given  to  him.  "  You'll  sit 


WORD  TO   BENNINGTON  365 

one  side  o'  the  table,  and  I'll  sit  the  other,  and 
we'll  go  ahaid ;  and  pretty  soon  it  will  be  done." 

"  O  dear  !  "  she  said.  "  Yes,  I  suppose  that  is 
the  best  way." 

And  so,  accordingly,  they  took  their  places. 
The  inkstand  stood  between  them.  Beside  each 
of  them  she  distributed  paper  enough,  almost,  for 
a  presidential  message.  And  pens  and  pencils 
were  in  plenty.  Was  this  not  the  headquarters  of 
the  Bear  Creek  schoolmarm  ? 

"  Why,  aren't  you  going  to  do  it  in  pencil  first  ?  " 
she  exclaimed,  looking  up  from  her  vacant  sheet. 
His  pen  was  moving  slowly,  but  steadily. 

"  No,  I  don't  reckon  I  need  to,"  he  answered, 
with  his  nose  close  to  the  paper.  "  Oh,  damnation, 
there's  a  blot!  "  He  tore  his  spoiled  beginning  in 
small  bits,  and  threw  them  into  the  fireplace. 
"  You've  got  it  too  full,"  he  commented ;  and 
taking  the  inkstand,  he  tipped  a  little  from  it  out 
of  the  window.  She  sat  lost  among  her  false  starts. 
Had  she  heard  him  swear,  she  would  not  have 
minded.  She  rather  liked  it  when  he  swore.  He 
possessed  that  quality  in  his  profanity  of  not 
offending  by  it.  It  is  quite  wonderful  how  much 
worse  the  same  word  will  sound  in  one  man's  lips 
than  in  another's.  But  she  did  not  hear  him. 
Her  mind  was  among  a  litter  of  broken  sentences. 
Each  thought  which  she  began  ran  out  into  the 
empty  air,  or  came  against  some  stone  wall.  So 
there  she  sat,  her  eyes  now  upon  that  inexorable 
blank  sheet  that  lay  before  her,  waiting,  and  now 
turned  with  vacant  hopelessness  upon  the  sundry 
objects  in  the  room.  And  while  she  thus  sat  ac 
complishing  nothing,  opposite  to  her  the  black 


366  THE   VIRGINIAN 

head  bent  down,  and  the  steady  pen  moved  from 
phrase  to  phrase. 

She  became  aware  of  his  gazing  at  her,  flushed 
and  solemn.  That  strange  color  of  the  sea-water, 
which  she  could  never  name,  was  lustrous  in  his 
eyes.  He  was  folding  his  letter. 

"  You  have  finished  ?  "  she  said. 

"  Yes."  His  voice  was  very  quiet.  "  I  feel  like 
an  honester  man." 

"  Perhaps  I  can  do  something  to-night  at  Mrs. 
Taylor's,"  she  said,  looking  at  her  paper. 

On  it  were  a  few  words  crossed  out.  This  was 
all  she  had  to  show.  At  this  set  task  in  letter- 
writing,  the  cow-puncher  had  greatly  excelled  the 
schoolmarm ! 

But  that  night,  while  he  lay  quite  fast  asleep 
in  his  bed,  she  was  keeping  vigil  in  her  room  at 
Mrs.  Taylor's. 

Accordingly,  the  next  day,  those  three  letters 
departed  for  the  mail,  and  Mrs.  Taylor  conse 
quently  made  her  exclamation,  "  It's  come !  " 

On  the  day  before  the  Virginian  returned  to 
take  up  his  work  at  Judge  Henry's  ranch,  he  and 
Molly  announced  their  news.  What  Molly  said 
to  Mrs.  Taylor  and  what  Mrs.  Taylor  said  to  her, 
is  of  no  interest  to  us,  though  it  was  of  much  to 
them. 

But  Mr.  McLean  happened  to  make  a  call  quite 
early  in  the  morning  to  inquire  for  his  friend's 
health. 

"  Lin,"  began  the  Virginian,  "  there  is  no  harm 
in  your  knowing  an  hour  or  so  before  the  rest, 
lam  —  " 

"  Lord ! "     said      Mr.     McLean,     indulgently. 


WORD  TO   BENNINGTON  367 

"  Everybody  has  knowed  that  since  the  day  she 
found  yu'  at  the  spring." 

"  It  was  not  so,  then,"  said  the  Virginian, 
crossly. 

"  Lord  !    Everybody  has  knowed  it  right  along." 

"  Hmp  !  "  said  the  Virginian.  "  I  didn't  know 
this  country  was  that  rank  with  gossips." 

Mr.  McLean  laughed  mirthfully  at  the  lover. 
"  Well,"  he  said,  "  Mrs.  McLean  will  be  glad.  She 
told  me  to  give  yu'  her  congratulations  quite  a 
while  ago.  I  was  to  have  'em  ready  just  as  soon 
as  ever  yu'  asked  for  'em  yourself."  Lin  had 
been  made  a  happy  man  some  twelve  months 
previous  to  this.  And  now,  by  way  of  an  ex 
change  of  news,  he  added :  "  We're  expectin'  a 
little  McLean  down  on  Box  Elder.  That's  what 
you'll  be  expectin'  some  of  these  days,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,"  murmured  the  Virginian,  "  I  hope  so 
too." 

"  And  I  don't  guess,"  said  Lin,  "  that  you  and  I 
will  do  much  shufHin'  of  other  folks'  children  any 


more." 


Whereupon  he  and  the  Virginian  shook  hands 
silently,  and  understood  each  other  very  well. 

On  the  day  that  the  Virginian  parted  with 
Molly,  beside  the  weight  of  farewell  which  lay 
heavy  on  his  heart,  his  thoughts  were  also  grave 
with  news.  The  cattle  thieves  had  grown  more 
audacious.  Horses  and  cattle  both  were  being 
missed,  and  each  man  began  almost  to  doubt  his 
neighbor. 

"  Steps  will  have  to  be  taken  soon  by  some 
body,  I  reckon,"  said  the  lover. 

"  By  you  ?  "  she  asked  quickly. 


368  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  Most  likely  I'll  get  mixed  up  with  it." 

"  What  will  you  have  to  do  ?  " 

"  Can't  say.     I'll  tell  yu'  when  I  come  back." 

So  did  he  part  from  her,  leaving  her  more 
kisses  than  words  to  remember. 

And  what  was  doing  at  Bennington,  mean 
while,  and  at  Dunbarton  ?  Those  three  letters 
which  by  their  mere  outside  had  so  moved  Mrs. 
Taylor,  produced  by  their  contents  much  painful 
disturbance. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Molly  wrote  to  her 
mother,  and  to  her  great-aunt.  That  announce 
ment  to  her  mother  was  undertaken  first.  Its 
composition  occupied  three  hours  and  a  half,  and 
it  filled  eleven  pages,  not  counting  a  postscript 
upon  the  twelfth.  The  letter  to  the  great-aunt 
took  only  ten  minutes.  I  cannot  pretend  to  ex 
plain  why  this  one  was  so  greatly  superior  to  the 
other;  but  such  is  the  remarkable  fact.  Its  be 
ginning,  to  be  sure,  did  give  the  old  lady  a  start ;  she 
had  dismissed  the  cow-boy  from  her  probabilities. 

"  Tut,  tut,  tut ! "  she  exclaimed  out  loud  in  her 
bedroom.  "  She  has  thrown  herself  away  on 
that  fellow ! " 

But  some  sentences  at  the  end  made  her  pause 
and  sit  still  for  a  long  while.  The  severity  upon 
her  face  changed  to  tenderness,  gradually.  "  Ah, 
me,"  she  sighed.  "  If  marriage  were  as  simple  as 
love !  "  Then  she  went  slowly  downstairs,  and 
out  into  her  garden,  where  she  walked  long  be 
tween  the  box  borders.  "  But  if  she  has  found  a 
great  love,"  said  the  old  lady  at  length.  And  she 
returned  to  her  bedroom,  and  opened  an  old  desk, 
and  read  some  old  letters. 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  369 

There  came  to  her  the  next  morning  a  com 
munication  from  Bennington.  This  had  been 
penned  frantically  by  poor  Mrs.  Wood.  As  soon 
as  she  had  been  able  to  gather  her  senses  after 
the  shock  of  her  daughter's  eleven  pages  and  the 
postscript,  the  mother  had  poured  out  eight  pages 
herself  to  the  eldest  member  of  the  family.  There 
had  been,  indeed,  much  excuse  for  the  poor  lady. 
To  begin  with,  Molly  had  constructed  her  whole 
opening  page  with  the  express  and  merciful  inten 
tion  of  preparing  her  mother.  Consequently,  it 
made  no  sense  whatever.  Its  effect  was  the  usual 
effect  of  remarks  designed  to  break  a  thing  gen 
tly.  .  It  merely  made  Mrs.  Wood's  head  swim,  and 
filled  her  with  a  sickening  dread.  "  Oh,  mercy, 
Sarah,"  she  had  cried,  "come  here.  What  does 
this  mean  ? "  And  then,  fortified  by  her  elder 
daughter,  she  had  turned  over  that  first  page  and 
found  what  it  meant  on  the  top  of  the  second. 
"  A  savage  with  knives  and  pistols !  "  she  wailed. 
"  Well,  mother,  I  always  told  you  so,"  said  her 
daughter  Sarah.  "  What  is  a  foreman  ? "  ex 
claimed  the  mother.  "  And  who  is  Judge  Henry  ?  " 
"  She  has  taken  a  sort  of  upper  servant,"  said 
—  Sarah.  "  If  it  is  allowed  to  go  as  far  as  a  wed 
ding,  I  doubt  if  I  can  bring  myself  to  be  present." 
(This  threat  she  proceeded  to  make  to  Molly,  with 
results  that  shall  be  set  forth  in  their  proper  place.) 
"  The  man  appears  to  have  written  to  me  himself," 
said  Mrs.  Wood.  "  He  knows  no  better,"  said 
Sarah.  "  Bosh !  "  said  Sarah's  husband  later.  "  It 
was  a  very  manly  thing  to  do."  Thus  did  con 
sternation  rage  in  the  house  at  Bennington.  Molly 
might  have  spared  herself  the  many  assurances 

2B 


370  THE   VIRGINIAN 

that  she  gave  concerning  the  universal  esteem  in 
which  her  cow-puncher  was  held,  and  the  fair 
prospects  which  were  his.  So,  in  the  first  throes 
of  her  despair,  Mrs.  Wood  wrote  those  eight 
not  maturely  considered  pages  to  the  great- 
aunt. 

"  Tut,  tut,  tut ! "  said  the  great-aunt  as  she 
read  them.  Her  face  was  much  more  severe  to 
day.  "You'd  suppose,"  she  said,  "that  the  girl 
had  been  kidnapped !  Why,  she  has  kept  him 
waiting  three  years !  "  And  then  she  read  more, 
but  soon  put  the  letter  down  with  laughter.  For 
Mrs.  Wood  had  repeated  in  writing  that  early  out 
burst  of  hers  about  a  savage  with  knives  and 
pistols.  "  Law  !  "  said  the  great-aunt.  "  Law, 
what  a  fool  Lizzie  is ! " 

So  she  sat  down  and  wrote  to  Mrs.  Wood  a 
wholesome  reply  about  putting  a  little  more  trust 
in  her  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  reminding  her 
among  other  things  that  General  Stark  had  him 
self  been  wont  to  carry  knives  and  pistols  owing 
to  the  necessities  of  his  career,  but  that  he  had 
occasionally  taken  them  off,  as  did  probably  this 
young  man  in  Wyoming.  "  You  had  better  send 
me  the  letter  he  has  written  you,"  she  concluded. 
"  I  shall  know  much  better  what  to  think  after  I 
have  seen  that." 

It  is  not  probable  that  Mrs.  Wood  got  much 
comfort  from  this  communication ;  and  her  daugh 
ter  Sarah  was  actually  enraged  by  it.  "She  grows 
more  perverse  as  she  nears  her  dotage,"  said  Sarah. 
But  the  Virginian's  letter  was  sent  to  Dunbarton, 
where  the  old  lady  sat  herself  down  to  read  it  with 
much  attention. 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  371 

Here  is  what  the  Virginian  had  said  to  the  un 
known  mother  of  his  sweetheart. 

MRS.  JOHN  STARK  WOOD, 
Bennington,  Vermont. 

MADAM  :  If  your  daughter  Miss  Wood  has  ever  told  you 
about  her  saving  a  man's  life  here  when  some  Indians  had  shot 
him  that  is  the  man  who  writes  to  you  now.  I  don't  think  she 
can  have  told  you  right  about  that  affair  for  she  is  the  only  one 
in  this  country  who  thinks  it  was  a  little  thing.  So  I  must 
tell  you  it,  the  main  points.  Such  an  action  would  have  been 
thought  highly  of  in  a  Western  girl,  but  with  Miss  Wood's  rais 
ing  nobody  had  a  right  to  expect  it. 

"  Indeed  !  "  snorted  the  great-aunt  "  Well,  he 
would  be  right,  if  I  had  not  had  a  good  deal  more 
to  do  with  her  '  raising '  than  ever  Lizzie  had." 
And  she  went  on  with  the  letter. 

I  was  starting  in  to  die  when  she  found  me.  I  did  not 
know  anything  then,  and  she  pulled  me  back  from  where  I  was 
half  in  the  next  world.  She  did  not  know  but  what  Indians 
would  get  her  too  but  I  could  not  make  her  leave  me.  I  am 
a  heavy  man  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  stripped  when  in 
full  health.  She  lifted  me  herself  from  the  ground  me  helping 
scarce  any  for  there  was  not  much  help  in  me  that  day.  She 
washed  my  wound  and  brought  me  to  with  her  own  whiskey. 
Before  she  could  get  me  home  I  was  out  of  my  head  but  she 
kept  me  on  my  horse  somehow  and  talked  wisely  to  me  so  I 
minded  her  and  did  not  go  clean  crazy  till  she  had  got  me  safe 
to  bed.  The  doctor  says  I  would  have  died  all  the  same  if  she 
had  not  nursed  me  the  way  she  did.  It  made  me  love  her 
more  which  I  did  not  know  I  could.  But  there  is  no  end,  for 
this  writing  it  down  makes  me  love  her  more  as  I  write 
it. 

And  now  Mrs.  Wood  I  am  sorry  this  will  be  bad  news  for 
you  to  hear.  I  know  you  would  never  choose  such  a  man  as  I 
am  for  her  for  I  have  got  no  education  and  must  write  humble 
against  my  birth.  I  wish  I  could  make  the  news  easier  but 
truth  is  the  best. 


372  THE  VIRGINIAN 

I.  am  of  old  stock  in  Virginia  English  and  one  Scotch  Irish 
grandmother  my  father's  father  brought  from  Kentucky.  We 
have  always  stayed  at  the  same  place  farmers  and  hunters  not 
bettering  our  lot  and  very  plain.  We  have  fought  when  we  got 
the  chance,  under  Old  Hickory  and  in  Mexico  and  my  father 
and  two  brothers  were  killed  in  the  Valley  sixty-four.  Always 
with  us  one  son  has  been  apt  to  run  away  and  I  was  the  one 
this  time.  I  had  too  much  older  brothering  to  suit  me.  But 
now  I  am  doing  well  being  in  full  sight  of  prosperity  and  not 
too  old  and  very  strong  my  health  having  stood  the  sundries  it 
has  been  put  through.  She  shall  teach  school  no  more  when 
she  is  mine.  I  wish  I  could  make  this  news  easier  for  you 
Mrs.  Wood.  I  do  not  like  promises  I  have  heard  so  many.  I  will 
tell  any  man  of  your  family  anything  he  likes  to  ask  me,  and 
Judge  Henry  would  tell  you  about  my  reputation.  I  have  seen 
plenty  rough  things  but  can  say  I  have  never  killed  for  pleasure 
or  profit  and  am  not  one  of  that  kind,  always  preferring  peace. 
I  have  had  to  live  in  places  where  they  had  courts  and  lawyers 
so  called  but  an  honest  man  was  all  the  law  you  could  find  in 
five  hundred  miles.  I  have  not  told  her  about  those  things  not 
because  I  am  ashamed  of  them  but  there  are  so  many  things 
too  dark  for  a  girl  like  her  to  hear  about. 

I  had  better  tell  you  the  way  I  know  I  love  Miss  Wood.  I 
am  not  a  boy  now,  and  women  are  no  new  thing  to  me. 
A  man  like  me  who  has  travelled  meets  many  of  them  as  he 
goes  and  passes  on  but  I  stopped  when  I  came  to  Miss  Wood. 
That  is  three  years  but  I  have  not  gone  on.  What  right  has 
such  as  he  ?  you  will  say.  So  did  I  say  it  after  she  had  saved 
my  life.  It  was  hard  to  get  to  that  point  and  keep  there  with 
her  around  me  all  day.  But  I  said  to  myself  you  have  bothered 
her  for  three  years  with  your  love  and  if  you  let  your  love 
bother  her  you  don't  love  her  like  you  should  and  you  must 
quit  for  her  sake  who  has  saved  your  life.  I  did  not  know  what 
I  was  going  to  do  with  my  life  after  that  but  I  supposed  I  could 
go  somewhere  and  work  hard  and  so  Mrs.  Wood  I  told  her  I 
would  give  her  up.  But  she  said  no.  It  is  going  to  be  hard 
for  her  to  get  used  to  a  man  like  me  — 

But  at  this  point  in  the  Virginian's  letter,  the 
old  great-aunt  could  read  no  more.  She  rose, 
and  went  over  to  that  desk  where  lay  those  faded 


WORD   TO   BENNINGTON  373 

letters  of  her  own.  She  laid  her  head  down  upon 
the  package,  and  as  her  tears  flowed  quietly  upon 
it,  "  O  dear,"  she  whispered,  "  O  dear !  And  this 
is  what  I  lost !  " 

To  her  girl  upon  Bear  Creek  she  wrote  the 
next  day.  And  this  word  from  Dunbarton  was 
like  balm  among  the  harsh  stings  Molly  was 
receiving.  The  voices  of  the  world  reached  her 
in  gathering  numbers,  and  not  one  of  them  save 
that  great-aunt's  was  sweet.  Her  days  were  full 
of  hurts ;  and  there  was  no  one  by  to  kiss  the 
hurts  away.  Nor  did  she  even  hear  from  her 
lover  any  more  now.  She  only  knew  he  had 
gone  into  lonely  regions  upon  his  errand. 

That  errand  took  him  far :  — 

Across  the  Basin,  among  the  secret  places  of 
Owl  Creek,  past  the  Washakie  Needles,  over  the 
Divide  to  Gros  Ventre,  and  so  through  a  final 
barrier  of  peaks  into  the  borders  of  East  Idaho. 
There,  by  reason  of  his  bidding  me,  I  met  him, 
and  came  to  share  in  a  part  of  his  errand. 

It  was  with  no  guide  that  I  travelled  to  him. 
He  had  named  a  little  station  on  the  railroad, 
and  from  thence  he  had  charted  my  route  by 
means  of  landmarks.  Did  I  believe  in  omens, 
the  black  storm  that  I  set  out  in  upon  my  horse 
would  seem  like  one  to-day.  But  I  had  been 
living  in  cities  and  smoke ;  and  Idaho,  even  with 
rain,  was  delightful  to  me. 


XXX 

A    STABLE    ON    THE    FLAT 

WHEN  the  first  landmark,  the  lone  clump  of 
cottonwoods,  came  at  length  in  sight,  dark  and 
blurred  in  the  gentle  rain,  standing  out  perhaps 
a  mile  beyond  the  distant  buildings,  my  whole 
weary  body  hailed  the  approach  of  repose.  Saving 
the  noon  hour,  I  had  been  in  the  saddle  since  six, 
and  now  six  was  come  round  again.  The  ranch, 
my  resting-place  for  this  night,  was  a  ruin  —  cabin, 
stable,  and  corral.  Yet  after  the  twelve  hours  of 
pushing  on  and  on  through  silence,  still  to  have 
silence,  still  to  eat  and  go  to  sleep  in  it,  perfectly 
fitted  the  mood  of  both  my  flesh  and  spirit.  At 
noon,  when  for  a  while  I  had  thrown  off  my  long 
oilskin  coat,  merely  the  sight  of  the  newspaper 
half  crowded  into  my  pocket  had  been  a  displeas 
ing  reminder  of  the  railway,  and  cities,  and  affairs. 
But  for  its  possible  help  to  build  fires,  it  would  have 
come  no  farther  with  me.  The  great  levels  around 
me  lay  cooled  and  freed  of  dust  by  the  wet  weather, 
and  full  of  sweet  airs.  Far  in  front  the  foot-hills 
rose  through  the  rain,  indefinite  and  mystic.  I 
wanted  no  speech  with  any  one,  nor  to  be  near 
human  beings  at  all.  I  was  steeped  in  a  revery 
as  of  the  primal  earth ;  even  thoughts  themselves 
had  almost  ceased  motion.  To  lie  down  with 
wild  animals,  with  elk  and  deer,  would  have  made 

374 


A   STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  375 

my  waking  dream  complete  ;  and  since  such  dream 
could  not  be,  the  cattle  around  the  deserted  build 
ings,  mere  dots  as  yet  across  separating  space, 
were  my  proper  companions  for  this  evening. 

To-morrow  night  I  should  probably  be  camping 
with  the  Virginian  in  the  foot-hills.  At  his  letter's 
bidding  I  had  come  eastward  across  Idaho,  aban 
doning  my  hunting  in  the  Saw  Tooth  Range 
to  make  this  journey  with  him  back  through  the 
Tetons.  It  was  a  trail  known  to  him,  and  not  to 
many  other  honest  men.  Horse  Thief  Pass  was 
the  name  his  letter  gave  it.  Business  (he  was 
always  brief)  would  call  him  over  there  at  this 
time.  Returning,  he  must  attend  to  certain  mat 
ters  in  the  Wind  River  country.  There  I  could 
leave  by  stage  for  the  railroad,  or  go  on  with  him 
the  whole  way  back  to  Sunk  Creek.  He  desig 
nated  for  our  meeting  the  forks  of  a  certain  little 
stream  in  the  foot-hills  which  to-day's  ride  had 
brought  in  sight.  There  would  be  no  chance  for 
him  to  receive  an  answer  from  me  in  the  interven 
ing  time.  If  by  a  certain  day  —  which  was  four 
days  off  still  —  I  had  not  reached  the  forks,  he 
would  understand  I  had  other  plans.  To  me  it 
was  like  living  back  in  ages  gone,  this  way  of 
meeting  my  friend,  this  choice  of  a  stream  so  far 
and  lonely  that  its  very  course  upon  the  maps  was 
wrongly  traced.  And  to  leave  behind  all  noise 
and  mechanisms,  and  set  out  at  ease,  slowly,  with 
one  packhorse,  into  the  wilderness,  made  me  feel 
that  the  ancient  earth  was  indeed  my  mother  and 
that  I  had  found  her  again  after  being  lost  among 
houses,  customs,  and  restraints.  I  should  arrive 
three  days  early  at  the  forks  —  three  days  of  mar- 


376  THE  VIRGINIAN 

gin  seeming  to  me  a  wise  precaution  against  delays 
unforeseen.  If  the  Virginian  were  not  there,  good ; 
I  could  fish  and  be  happy.  If  he  were  there  but 
not  ready  to  start,  good ;  I  could  still  fish  and  be 
happy.  And  remembering  my  Eastern  helpless 
ness  in  the  year  when  we  had  met  first,  I  enjoyed 
thinking  how  I  had  come  to  be  trusted.  In  those 
days  I  had  not  been  allowed  to  go  from  the  ranch 
for  so  much  as  an  afternoon's  ride  unless  tied  to 
him  by  a  string,  so  to  speak ;  now  I  was  crossing 
unmapped  spaces  with  no  guidance.  The  man  who 
could  do  this  was  scarce  any  longer  a  "  tenderfoot." 

My  vision,  as  I  rode,  took  in  serenely  the  dim 
foot-hills,  —  to-morrow's  goal,  —  and  nearer  in  the 
vast  wet  plain  the  clump  of  cottonwoods,  and 
still  nearer  my  lodging  for  to-night  with  the  dotted 
cattle  round  it.  And  now  my  horse  neighed.  I 
felt  his  gait  freshen  for  the  journey's  end,  and 
leaning  to  pat  his  neck  I  noticed  his  ears  no 
longer  slack  and  inattentive,  but  pointing  forward 
to  where  food  and  rest  awaited  both  of  us.  Twice 
he  neighed,  impatiently  and  long ;  and  as  he  quick 
ened  his  gait  still  more,  the  packhorse  did  the 
same,  and  I  realized  that  there  was  about  me  still 
a  spice  of  the  tenderfoot:  those  dots  were  not 
cattle  ;  they  were  horses. 

My  horse  had  put  me  in  the  wrong.  He  had 
known  his  kind  from  afar,  and  was  hastening  to 
them.  The  plainsman's  eye  was  not  yet  mine; 
and  I  smiled  a  little  as  I  rode.  When  was  I  go 
ing  to  know,  as  by  instinct,  the  different  look  of 
horses  and  cattle  across  some  two  or  three  miles 
of  plain  ? 

These  miles  we  finished  soon.     The  buildings 


A  STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  377 

changed  in  their  aspect  as  they  grew  to  my  ap 
proach,  showing  their  desolation  more  clearly, 
and  in  some  way  bringing  apprehension  into  my 
mood.  And  around  them  the  horses,  too,  all 
standing  with  ears  erect,  watching  me  as  I  came 
—  there  was  something  about  them  ;  or  was  it  the 
silence  ?  For  the  silence  which  I  had  liked  until 
now  seemed  suddenly  to  be  made  too  great  by  the 
presence  of  the  deserted  buildings.  And  then  the 
door  of  the  stable  opened,  and  men  came  out  and 
stood,  also  watching  me  arrive.  By  the  time  I 
was  dismounting  more  were  there.  It  was  sense 
less  to  feel  as  unpleasant  as  I  did,  and  I  strove  to 
five  to  them  a  greeting  that  should  sound  easy, 
told  them  that  I  hoped  there  was  room  for  one 
more  here  to-night.  Some  of  them  had  answered 
my  greeting,  but  none  of  them  answered  this ; 
and  as  I  began  to  be  sure  that  I  recognized  sev 
eral  of  their  strangely  imperturbable  faces,  the 
Virginian  came  from  the  stable ;  and  at  that  wel 
come  sight  my  relief  spoke  out  instantly. 

"  I  am  here,  you  see !  " 

"  Yes,  I  do  see."  I  looked  hard  at  him,  for  in 
his  voice  was  the  same  strangeness  that  I  felt  in 
everything  around  me.  But  he  was  looking  at 
his  companions.  "  This  gentleman  is  all  right," 
he  told  them. 

"  That  may  be,"  said  one  whom  I  now  knew 
that  I  had  seen  before  at  Sunk  Creek ;  "  but  he 
was  not  due  to-night." 

"  Nor  to-morrow,"  said  another. 

"  Nor  yet  the  day  after,"  a  third  added. 

The  Virginian  fell  into  his  drawl.  "  None  of 
you  was  ever  early  for  anything,  I  presume." 


378  THE   VIRGINIAN 

One  retorted,  laughing,  "Oh,  we're  not  sus- 
picioning  you  of  complicity." 

And  another,  "  Not  even  when  we  remember 
how  thick  you  and  Steve  used  to  be." 

Whatever  jokes  they  meant  by  this  he  did  not 
receive  as  jokes.  I  saw  something  like  a  wince 
pass  over  his  face,  and  a  flush  follow  it.  But  he 
now  spoke  to  me.  "  We  expected  to  be  through 
before  this,"  he  began.  "  I'm  right  sorry  you  have 
come  to-night.  I  know  you'd  have  preferred  to 
keep  away." 

"  We  want  him  to  explain  himself,"  put  in  one 
of  the  others.  "  If  he  satisfies  us,  he's  free  to  go 
away." 

"  Free  to  go  away  !  "  I  now  exclaimed.  But  at 
the  indulgence  in  their  frontier  smile  I  cooled 
down.  "  Gentlemen,"  I  said,  "  I  don't  know  why 
my  movements  interest  you  so  much.  It's  quite 
a  compliment!  May  I  get  under  shelter  while  I 
explain  ? " 

No  request  could  have  been  more  natural,  for 
the  rain  had  now  begun  to  fall  in  straight  floods. 
Yet  there  was  a  pause  before  one  of  them  said, 
"  He  might  as  well." 

The  Virginian  chose  to  say  nothing  more ;  but 
he  walked  beside  me  into  the  stable.  Two  men 
sat  there  together,  and  a  third  guarded  them.  At 
that  sight  I  knew  suddenly  what  I  had  stumbled 
upon;  and  on  the  impulse  I  murmured  to  the 
Virginian :  — 

"  You're  hanging  them  to-morrow." 

He  kept  his  silence. 

"You  may  have  three  guesses,"  said  a  man 
behind  me. 


A   STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  379 

But  I  did  not  need  them.  And  in  the  recoil 
of  my  insight  the  clump  of  cottonwoods  came  into 
my  mind,  black  and  grim.  No  other  trees  high 
enough  grew  within  ten  miles.  This,  then,  was 
the  business  that  the  Virginian's  letter  had  so 
curtly  mentioned.  My  eyes  went  into  all  corners 
of  the  stable,  but  no  other  prisoners  were  here. 
I  half  expected  to  see  Trampas,  and  I  half  feared 
to  see  Shorty ;  for  poor  stupid  Shorty's  honesty 
had  not  been  proof  against  frontier  temptations, 
and  he  had  fallen  away  from  the  company  of  his 
old  friends.  Often  of  late  I  had  heard  talk  at 
Sunk  Creek  of  breaking  up  a  certain  gang  of  horse 
and  cattle  thieves  that  stole  in  one  Territory  and 
sold  in  the  next,  and  knew  where  to  hide  in  the 
mountains  between.  And  now  it  had  come  to 
the  point ;  forces  had  been  gathered,  a  long  expe 
dition  made,  and  here  they  were,  successful  under 
the  Virginian's  lead,  but  a  little  later  than  their 
calculations.  And  here  was  I,  a  little  too  early, 
and  a  witness  in  consequence.  My  presence 
seemed  a  simple  thing  to  account  for ;  but  when 
I  had  thus  accounted  for  it,  one  of  them  said  with 
good  nature :  — 

"  So  you  find  us  here,  and  we  find  you  here. 
Which  is  the  most  surprised,  I  wonder  ? " 

"  There's  no  telling,"  said  I,  keeping  as  amiable  as 
I  could ;  "  nor  any  telling  which  objects  the  most." 

"  Oh,  there's  no  objection  here.  You're  wel 
come  to  stay.  But  not  welcome  to  go,  I  expect 
He  ain't  welcome  to  go,  is  he  ?  " 

By  the  answers  that  their  faces  gave  him  it  was 
plain  that  I  was  not.  "  Not  till  we  are  through," 
said  one. 


380  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  He  needn't  to  see  anything,"  another  added. 

"  Better  sleep  late  to-morrow  morning,"  a  third 
suggested  to  me. 

I  did  not  wish  to  stay  here.  I  could  have  made 
some  sort  of  camp  apart  from  them  before  dark ; 
but  in  the  face  of  their  needless  caution  I  was  help 
less.  I  made  no  attempt  to  inquire  what  kind  of 
spy  they  imagined  I  could  be,  what  sort  of  rescue 
I  could  bring  in  this  lonely  country ;  my  too  early 
appearence  seemed  to  be  all  that  they  looked  at. 
And  again  my  eyes  sought  the  prisoners.  Cer 
tainly  there  were  only  two.  One  was  chewing  to 
bacco,  and  talking  now  and  then  to  his  guard  as 
if  nothing  were  the  matter.  The  other  sat  dull  in 
silence,  not  moving  his  eyes  ;  but  his  face  worked, 
and  I  noticed  how  he  continually  moistened  his 
dry  lips.  As  I  looked  at  these  doomed  prisoners, 
whose  fate  I  was  invited  to  sleep  through  to-mor 
row  morning,  the  one  who  was  chewing  quietly 
nodded  to  me. 

"  You  don't  remember  me  ?  "  he  said. 

It  was  Steve  !  Steve  of  Medicine  Bow !  The 
pleasant  Steve  of  my  first  evening  in  the  West 
Some  change  of  beard  had  delayed  my  instant 
recognition  of  his  face.  Here  he  sat  sentenced 
to  die.  A  shock,  chill  and  painful,  deprived  me 
of  speech. 

He  had  no  such  weak  feelings.  "  Have  yu' 
been  to  Medicine  Bow  lately  ? "  he  inquired. 
"  That's  getting  to  be  quite  a  while  ago." 

I  assented.  I  should  have  liked  to  say  some 
thing  natural  and  kind,  but  words  stuck  against 
my  will,  and  I  stood  awkward  and  ill  at  ease, 
noticing  idly  that  the  silent  one  wore  a  gray 


A  STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  381 

flannel  shirt  like  mine.  Steve  looked  me  over, 
and  saw  in  my  pocket  the  newspaper  which  I  had 
brought  from  the  railroad  and  on  which  I  had  pen 
cilled  a  few  expenses.  He  asked  me,  Would  I 
mind  letting  him  have  it  for  a  while  ?  And  I  gave 
it  to  him  eagerly,  begging  him  to  keep  it  as  long 
as  he  wanted.  I  was  overeager  in  my  embarrass 
ment.  ';  You  need  not  return  it  at  all,"  I  said ; 
"  those  notes  are  nothing.  Do  keep  it."  He 
gave  me  a  short  glance  and  a  smile.  "  Thank  you," 
he  said  ;  "  I'll  not  need  it  beyond  to-morrow  morn 
ing."  And  he  began  to  search  through  it.  "  Jake's 
election  is  considered  sure,"  he  said  to  his  com 
panion,  who  made  no  response.  "  Well,  Fremont 
County  owes  it  to  Jake."  And  I  left  him  inter 
ested  in  the  local  news. 

Dead  men  I  have  seen  not  a  few  times,  even 
some  lying  pale  and  terrible  after  violent  ends,  and 
the  edge  of  this  wears  off ;  but  I  hope  I  shall 
never  again  have  to  be  in  the  company  with  men 
waiting  to  be  killed.  By  this  time  to-morrow  the 
gray  flannel  shirt  would  be  buttoned  round  a  corpse. 
Until  what  moment  would  Steve  chew  ?  Against 
such  fancies  as  these  I  managed  presently  to  bar 
ricade  my  mind,  but  I  made  a  plea  to  be  allowed 
to  pass  the  night  elsewhere,  and  I  suggested  the 
adjacent  cabin.  By  their  faces  I  saw  that  my  words 
merely  helped  their  distrust  of  me.  The  cabin 
leaked  too  much,  they  said  ;  I  would  sleep  drier 
here.  One  man  gave  it  to  me  more  directly :  "  If 
you  figured  on  camping  in  this  stable,  what  has 
changed  your  mind  ? "  How  could  I  tell  them 
that  I  shrunk  from  any  contact  with  what  they  were 
doing,  although  I  knew  that  only  so  could  justice 


382  THE   VIRGINIAN 

be  dealt  in  this  country  ?  Their  wholesome  fron 
tier  nerves  knew  nothing  of  such  refinements. 

But  the  Virginian  understood  part  of  it.  "  I 
am  right  sorry  for  your  annoyance,"  he  said.  And 
now  I  noticed  he  was  under  a  constraint  very  dif 
ferent  from  the  ease  of  the  others. 

After  the  twelve  hours'  ride  my  bones  were 
hungry  for  rest.  I  spread  my  blankets  on  some 
straw  in  a  stall  by  myself  and  rolled  up  in  them  ; 
yet  I  lay  growing  broader  awake,  every  inch  of 
weariness  stricken  from  my  excited  senses.  For 
a  while  they  sat  over  their  councils,  whispering 
cautiously,  so  that  I  was  made  curious  to  hear  them 
by  not  being  able ;  was  it  the  names  of  Trampas 
and  Shorty  that  were  once  or  twice  spoken  ?  I 
could  not  be  sure.  I  heard  the  whisperers  cease  and 
separate.  I  heard  their  boots  as  they  cast  them 
off  upon  the  ground.  And  I  heard  the  breathing 
of  slumber  begin  and  grow  in  the  interior  silence. 
To  one  after  one  sleep  came,  but  not  to  me.  Out 
side,  the  dull  fall  of  the  rain  beat  evenly,  and  in 
some  angle  dripped  the  spouting  pulses  of  a  leak. 
Sometimes  a  cold  air  blew  in,  bearing  with  it  the 
keen  wet  odor  of  the  sage-brush.  On  hundreds 
of  other  nights  this  perfume  had  been  my  last 
waking  remembrance  ;  it  had  seemed  to  help  drow 
siness;  and  now  I  lay  staring,  thinking  of  this. 
Twice  through  the  hours  the  thieves  shifted  their 
positions  with  clumsy  sounds,  exchanging  muffled 
words  with  their  guard.  So,  often,  had  I  heard 
other  companions  move  and  mutter  in  the  dark 
ness  and  lie  down  again.  It  was  the  very  natu 
ralness  and  usualness  of  every  fact  of  the  night,  — 
the  stable  straw,  the  rain  outside,  my  familiar 


A   STABLE   ON   THE    FLAT  383 

blankets,  the  cool  visits  of  the  wind,  —  and  with 
all  this  the  thought  of  Steve  chewing  and  the  man 
in  the  gray  flannel  shirt,  that  made  the  hours  un 
earthly  and  strung  me  tight  with  suspense.  And 
at  last  I  heard  some  one  get  up  and  begin  to  dress. 
In  a  little  while  I  saw  light  suddenly  through  my 
closed  eyelids,  and  then  darkness  shut  again  ab 
ruptly  upon  them.  They  had  swung  in  a  lantern 
and  found  me  by  mistake.  I  was  the  only  one 
they  did  not  wish  to  rouse.  Moving  and  quiet 
talking  set  up  around  me,  and  they  began  to  go 
out  of  the  stable.  At  the  gleams  of  new  daylight 
which  they  let  in  my  thoughts  went  to  the  clump 
of  cottonwoods,  and  I  lay  still  with  hands  and 
feet  growing  steadily  cold.  Now  it  was  going  to 
happen.  I  wondered  how  they  would  do  it ;  one 
instance  had  been  described  to  me  by  a  witness, 
but  that  was  done  from  a  bridge,  and  there  had 
been  but  a  single  victim.  This  morning,  would 
one  have  to  wait  and  see  the  other  go  through 
with  it  first  ? 

The  smell  of  smoke  reached  me,  and  next  the 
rattle  of  tin  dishes.  Breakfast  was  something  I 
had  forgotten,  and  one  of  them  was  cooking  it 
now  in  the  dry  shelter  of  the  stable.  He  was 
alone,  because  the  talking  and  the  steps  were  out 
side  the  stable,  and  I  could  hear  the  sounds  of 
horses  being  driven  into  the  corral  and  saddled. 
Then  I  perceived  that  the  coffee  was  ready,  and 
almost  immediately  the  cook  called  them.  One 
came  in,  shutting  the  door  behind  him  as  he  re- 
entered,  which  the  rest  as  they  followed  imitated ; 
for  at  each  opening  of  the  door  I  saw  the  light  of 
day  leap  into  the  stable  and  heard  the  louder  sounds 


384  THE   VIRGINIAN 

of  the  rain.  Then  the  sound  and  the  light  would 
again  be  shut  out,  until  some  one  at  length  spoke 
out  bluntly,  bidding  the  door  be  left  open  on  ac 
count  of  the  smoke.  What  were  they  hiding 
from  ?  he  asked.  The  runaways  that  had  es 
caped?  A  laugh  followed  this  sally,  and  the 
door  was  left  open.  Thus  I  learned  that  there 
had  been  more  thieves  than  the  two  that  were 
captured.  It  gave  a  little  more  ground  for  their 
suspicion  about  me  and  my  anxiety  to  pass  the 
night  elsewhere.  It  cost  nothing  to  detain  me, 
and  they  were  taking  no  chances,  however  re 
mote. 

The  fresh  air  and  the  light  now  filled  the  stable, 
and  I  lay  listening  while  their  breakfast  brought 
more  talk  from  them.  They  were  more  at  ease  now 
than  was  I,  who  had  nothing  to  do  but  carry  out 
my  role  of  slumber  in  the  stall ;  they  spoke  in  a 
friendly,  ordinary  way,  as  if  this  were  like  every 
other  morning  of  the  week  to  them.  They  ad 
dressed  the  prisoners  with  a  sort  of  fraternal 
kindness,  not  bringing  them  pointedly  into  the 
conversation,  nor  yet  pointedly  leaving  them  out. 
I  made  out  that  they  must  all  be  sitting  round 
the  breakfast  together,  those  who  had  to  die  and 
those  who  had  to  kill  them.  The  Virginian  I 
never  heard  speak.  But  I  heard  the  voice  of 
Steve;  he  discussed  with  his  captors  the  sundry 
points  of  his  capture. 

"  Do  you  remember  a  haystack  ? "  he  asked. 
"  Away  up  the  south  fork  of  Gros  Ventre  ?  " 

"  That  was  Thursday  afternoon,"  said  one  of 
the  captors.  "  There  was  a  shower." 

"  Yes.     It  rained.     We  had   you  fooled   that 


A   STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  385 

time.  I  was  laying  on  the  ledge  above  to  report 
your  movements." 

Several  of  them  laughed.  "  We  thought  you 
were  over  on  Spread  Creek  then." 

"  I  figured  you  thought  so  by  the  trail  you 
took  after  the  stack.  Saturday  we  watched  you 
turn  your  back  on  us  up  Spread  Creek.  We  were 
snug  among  the  trees  the  other  side  of  Snake 
River.  That  was  another  time  we  had  you 
fooled." 

They  laughed  again  at  their  own  expense.  I 
have  heard  men  pick  to  pieces  a  hand  of  whist 
with  more  antagonism. 

Steve  continued :  "  Would  we  head  for  Idaho  ? 
Would  we  swing  back  over  the  Divide  ?  You 
didn't  know  which  !  And  when  we  generalled  you 
on  to  that  band  of  horses  you  thought  was  the 
band  you  were  hunting  —  ah,  we  were  a  strong 
combination !"  He  broke  off  with  the  first  touch 
of  bitterness  I  had  felt  in  his  words. 

"  Nothing  is  any  stronger  than  its  weakest 
point."  It  was  the  Virginian  who  said  this,  and 
it  was  the  first  word  he  had  spoken. 

"  Naturally,"  said  Steve.  His  tone  in  addressing 
the  Virginian  was  so  different,  so  curt,  that  I  sup 
posed  he  took  the  weakest  point  to  mean  himself. 
But  the  others  now  showed  me  that  I  was  wrong 
in  this  explanation. 

"  That's  so,"  one  said.  "  Its  weakest  point  is 
where  a  rope  or  a  gang  of  men  is  going  to  break 
when  the  strain  comes.  And  you  was  linked  with 
a  poor  partner,  Steve." 

"  You're  right  I  was,"  said  the  prisoner,  back  in 
his  easy,  casual  voice. 

2C 


386  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  You  ought  to  have  got  yourself  separated  from 
him,  Steve." 

There  was  a  pause.  "  Yes,"  said  the  prisoner, 
moodily.  "  I'm  sitting  here  because  one  of  us 
blundered."  He  cursed  the  blunderer.  "  Light 
ing  his  fool  fire  queered  the  whole  deal,"  he  added. 
As  he  again  heavily  cursed  the  blunderer,  the 
others  murmured  to  each  other  various  "  I  told 
you  so's." 

"You'd  never  have  built  that  fire,  Steve,"  said  one. 

"  I  said  that  when  we  spied  the  smoke,"  said 
another.  "  I  said,  '  That's  none  of  Steve's  work, 
lighting  fires  and  revealing  to  us  their  where 
abouts.'  ': 

It  struck  me  that  they  were  plying  Steve  with 
compliments. 

"  Pretty  hard  to  have  the  fool  get  away  and  you 
get  caught,"  a  third  suggested. 

At  this  they  seemed  to  wait.  I  felt  something 
curious  in  all  this  last  talk. 

"  Oh,  did  he  get  away  ? "  said  the  prisoner, 
then. 

Again  they  waited ;  and  a  new  voice  spoke 
huskily :  — 

"  I  built  that  fire,  boys."  It  was  the  prisoner  in 
the  gray  flannel  shirt. 

"  Too  late,  Ed,"  they  told  him  kindly.  "  You 
ain't  a  good  liar." 

"  What  makes  you  laugh,  Steve  ? "  said  some 
one. 

"  Oh,  the  things  I  notice." 

"  Meaning  Ed  was  pretty  slow  in  backing  up 
your  play?  The  joke  is  really  on  you,  Steve. 
You'd  ought  never  to  have  cursed  the  fire-builder 


A  STABLE   ON   THE   FLAT  387 

if  you  wanted  us  to  believe  he  was  present.  But 
we'd  not  have  done  much  to  Shorty,  even  if  we 
had  caught  him.  All  he  wants  is  to  be  scared 
good  and  hard,  and  he'll  go  back  into  virtuousness, 
which  is  his  nature  when  not  travelling  with 
Trampas." 

Steve's  voice  sounded  hard  now.  "  You  have 
caught  Ed  and  me.  That  should  satisfy  you  for 
one  gather." 

"  Well,  we  think  different,  Steve.  Trampas 
escaping  leaves  this  thing  unfinished." 

"  So  Trampas  escaped  too,  did  he  ? "  said  the 
prisoner. 

"  Yes,  Steve,  Trampas  escaped  —  this  time ;  and 
Shorty  with  him  —  this  time.  We  know  it  most 
as  well  as  if  we'd  seen  them  go.  And  we're  glad 
Shorty  is  loose,  for  he'll  build  another  fire  or  do 
some  other  foolishness  next  time,  and  that's  the 
time  we'll  get  Trampas." 

Their  talk  drifted  to  other  points,  and  I  lay 
thinking  of  the  skirmish  that  had  played  beneath 
the  surface  of  their  banter.  Yes,  the  joke,  as  they 
put  it,  was  on  Steve.  He  had  lost  one  point  in 
the  game  to  them.  They  were  playing  for  names. 
He,  being  a  chivalrous  thief,  was  playing  to  hide 
names.  They  could  only,  among  several  likely 
confederates,  guess  Trampas  and  Shorty.  So  it 
had  been  a  slip  for  him  to  curse  the  man  who  built 
the  fire.  At  least,  they  so  held  it.  For,  they  with 
subtlety  reasoned,  one  curses  the  absent.  And  I 
agreed  with  them  that  Ed  did  not  know  how  to 
lie  well ;  he  should  have  at  once  claimed  the  dis 
grace  of  having  spoiled  the  expedition.  If  Shorty 
was  the  blunderer,  then  certainly  Trampas  was 


388  THE  VIRGINIAN 

the  other  man  ;  for  the  two  were  as  inseparable 
as  dog  and  master.  Trampas  had  enticed  Shorty 
away  from  good,  and  trained  him  in  evil.  It  now 
struck  me  that  after  his  single  remark  the  Virgin 
ian  had  been  silent  throughout  their  shrewd  dis 
cussion. 

It  was  the  other  prisoner  that  I  heard  them 
next  address.  "  You  don't  eat  any  breakfast,  Ed." 

"  Brace  up,  Ed.  Look  at  Steve,  how  hardy  he 
eats ! " 

But  Ed,  it  seemed,  wanted  no  breakfast.  And 
the  tin  dishes  rattled  as  they  were  gathered  and 
taken  to  be  packed. 

"  Drink  this  coffee,  anyway,"  another  urged ; 
"  you'll  feel  warmer." 

These  words  almost  made  it  seem  like  my  own 
execution.  My  whole  body  turned  cold  in  com 
pany  with  the  prisoner's,  and  as  if  with  a  clank 
the  situation  tightened  throughout  my  senses. 

"  I  reckon  if  every  one's  ready  we'll  start."  It 
was  the  Virginian's  voice  once  more,  and  differ 
ent  from  the  rest.  I  heard  them  rise  at  his  bid 
ding,  and  I  put  the  blanket  over  my  head.  I  felt 
their  tread  as  they  walked  out,  passing  my  stall. 
The  straw  that  was  half  under  me  and  half  out 
in  the  stable  was  stirred  as  by  something  heavy 
dragged  or  half  lifted  along  over  it.  "  Look  out, 
you're  hurting  Ed's  arm,"  one  said  to  another,  as 
the  steps  with  tangled  sounds  passed  slowly  out. 
I  heard  another  among  those  who  followed  say, 
"  Poor  Ed  couldn't  swallow  his  coffee."  Outside 
they  began  getting  on  their  horses  ;  and  next  their 
hoofs  grew  distant,  until  all  was  silence  round  the 
stable  except  the  dull,  even  falling  of  the  rain. 


XXXI 

THE    COTTONWOODS 

I  DO  not  know  how  long  I  stayed  there  alone. 
It  was  the  Virginian  who  came  back,  and  as  he 
stood  at  the  foot  of  my  blankets  his  eye,  after 
meeting  mine  full  for  a  moment,  turned  aside.  I 
had  never  seen  him  look  as  he  did  now,  not  even 
in  Pitchstone  Canon  when  we  came  upon  the 
bodies  of  Hank  and  his  wife.  Until  this  moment 
we  had  found  no  chance  of  speaking  together, 
except  in  the  presence  of  others. 

"  Seems  to  be  raining  still,"  I  began  after  a 
little. 

"  Yes.     It's  a  wet  spell." 

He  stared  out  of  the  door,  smoothing  his 
mustache. 

It  was  again  I  that  spoke.  "  What  time  is 
it?" 

He  brooded  over  his  watch.  "  Twelve  minutes 
to  seven." 

I  rose  and  stood  drawing  on  my  clothes. 

"  The  fire's  out,"  said  he ;  and  he  assembled 
some  new  sticks  over  the  ashes.  Presently  he 
looked  round  with  a  cup. 

"  Never  mind  that  for  me,"  I  said. 

"  We've  a  long  ride,"  he  suggested. 

"  I  know.     I've  crackers  in  my  pocket." 

389 


390  THE  VIRGINIAN 

My  boots  being  pulled  on,  I  walked  to  the  door 
and  watched  the  clouds.  "  They  seem  as  if  they 
might  lift,"  I  said.  And  I  took  out  my  watch. 

"  What  time  is  it  ? "  he  asked. 

"  A  quarter  of  —  it's  run  down." 

While  I  wound  it  he  seemed  to  be  consulting 
his  own. 

"  Well  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Ten  minutes  past  seven." 

As  I  was  setting  my  watch  he  slowly  said: 
"  Steve  wound  his  all  regular.  I  had  to  night- 
guard  him  till  two."  His  speech  was  like  that  of 
one  in  a  trance :  so,  at  least,  it  sounds  in  my 
memory  to-day. 

Again  I  looked  at  the  weather  and  the  rainy 
immensity  of  the  plain.  The  foot-hills  eastward 
where  we  were  going  were  a  soft  yellow.  Over 
the  gray-green  sage-brush  moved  shapeless  places 
of  light  —  not  yet  the  uncovered  sunlight,  but 
spots  where  the  storm  was  wearing  thin ;  and 
wandering  streams  of  warmth  passed  by  slowly 
in  the  surrounding  air.  As  I  watched  the  clouds 
and  the  earth,  my  eyes  chanced  to  fall  on  the  dis 
tant  clump  of  cottonwoods.  Vapors  from  the  en 
feebled  storm  floated  round  them,  and  they  were 
indeed  far  away;  but  I  came  inside  and  began 
rolling  up  my  blankets. 

"  You  will  not  change  your  mind  ? "  said  the 
Virginian  by  the  fire.  "  It  is  thirty-five  miles." 

I  shook  my  head,  feeling  a  certain  shame  that 
he  should  see  how  unnerved  I  was. 

He  swallowed  a  hot  cupful,  and  after  it  sat 
thinking;  and  presently  he  passed  his  hand  across 
his  brow,  shutting  his  eyes.  Again  he  poured 


THE   COTTON  WOODS  391 

out  a  cup,  and  emptying  this,  rose  abruptly  to  his 
feet  as  if  shaking  himself  free  from  something. 

"  Let's  pack  and  quit  here,"  he  said. 

Our  horses  were  in  the  corral  and  our  belong 
ings  in  the  shelter  of  what  had  been  once  the 
cabin  at  this  forlorn  place.  He  collected  them 
in  silence  while  I  saddled  my  own  animal,  and  in 
silence  we  packed  the  two  packhorses,  and  threw 
the  diamond  hitch,  and  hauled  tight  the  slack, 
damp  ropes.  Soon  we  had  mounted,  and  as  we 
turned  into  the  trail  I  gave  a  look  back  at  my 
last  night's  lodging. 

The  Virginian  noticed  me.  "  Good-by  for 
ever  ! "  he  interpreted. 

"  By  God,  I  hope  so ! " 

"  Same  here,"  he  confessed.  And  these  were 
our  first  natural  words  this  morning. 

"  This  will  go  well,"  said  I,  holding  my  flask 
out  to  him ;  and  both  of  us  took  some,  and  felt 
easier  for  it  and  the  natural  words. 

For  an  hour  we  had  been  shirking  real  talk, 
holding  fast  to  the  weather,  or  anything,  and  all 
the  while  that  silent  thing  we  were  keeping  off 
spoke  plainly  in  the  air  around  us  and  in  every 
syllable  that  we  uttered.  But  now  we  were  going 
to  get  away  from  it ;  leave  it  behind  in  the  stable, 
and  set  ourselves  free  from  it  by  talking  it  out. 
Already  relief  had  begun  to  stir  in  my  spirits. 

"  You  never  did  this  before,"  I  said. 

"  No.  I  never  had  it  to  do."  He  was  riding 
beside  me,  looking  down  at  his  saddle-horn. 

"  I  do  not  think  I  should  ever  be  able,"  I  pursued. 

Defiance  sounded  in  his  answer.  "  I  would  do 
it  again  this  morning." 


392  THE   VIRGINIA^ 

"Oh,  I  don't  mean  that.  It's  all  right  here. 
There's  no  other  way." 

"  I  would  do  it  all  over  again  the  same  this 
morning.  Just  the  same." 

"  Why,  so  should  I  — if  I  could  do  it  at  all."  I 
still  thought  he  was  justifying  their  justice  to 
me. 

He  made  no  answer  as  he  rode  along,  looking 
all  the  while  at  his  saddle.  But  again  he  passed 
his  hand  over  his  forehead  with  that  frown  and 
shutting  of  the  eyes. 

"  I  should  like  to  be  sure  I  should  behave  my 
self  if  I  were  condemned,"  I  said  next.  For  it 
now  came  to  me  —  which  should  I  resemble? 
Could  I  read  the  newspaper,  and  be  interested  in 
county  elections,  and  discuss  coming  death  as  if  I 
had  lost  a  game  of  cards  ?  Or  would  they  have 
to  drag  me  out  ?  That  poor  wretch  in  the  gray 
flannel  shirt —  "It  was  bad  in  the  stable,"  I 
said  aloud.  For  an  after-shiver  of  it  went  through 
me. 

A  third  time  his  hand  brushed  his  forehead, 
and  I  ventured  some  sympathy. 

"  I'm  afraid  your  head  aches." 

"  I  don't  want  to  keep  seeing  Steve,"  he 
muttered. 

"  Steve !  "  I  was  astounded.  "  Why  he  —  why 
all  I  saw  of  him  was  splendid.  Since  it  had  to 
be.  It  was  —  " 

"Oh,  yes;  Ed.  You're  thinking  about  him. 
I'd  forgot  him.  So  you  didn't  enjoy  Ed  ?  " 

At  this  I  looked  at  him  blankly.  "  It  isn't 
possible  that  —  " 

Again  he  cut  me  short  with  a  laugh  almost 


THE   COTTONWOODS  393 

savage.  "  You  needn't  to  worry  about  Steve.  He 
stayed  game." 

What  then  had  been  the  matter  that  he  should 
keep  seeing  Steve  —  that  his  vision  should  so  ob 
literate  from  him  what  I  still  shivered  at,  and  so 
shake  him  now?  For  he  seemed  to  be  growing 
more  stirred  as  I  grew  less.  I  asked  him  no 
further  questions,  however,  and  we  went  on  for 
several  minutes,  he  brooding  always  in  the  same 
fashion,  until  he  resumed  with  the  hard  indiffer 
ence  that  had  before  surprised  me :  — 

"  So  Ed  gave  you  feelings !  Dumb  ague  and 
so  forth." 

"  No  doubt  we're  not  made  the  same  way,"  I 
retorted. 

He  took  no  notice  of  this.  "  And  you'd  have 
been  more  comfortable  if  he'd  acted  same  as  Steve 
did.  It  cert'nly  was  bad  seeing  Ed  take  it  that 
way,  I  reckon.  And  you  didn't  see  him  when  the 
time  came  for  business.  Well,  here's  what  it  is :  a 
man  may  be  such  a  confirmed  miscreant  that  killing's 
the  only  cure  for  him ;  but  still  he's  your  own  spe 
cies,  and  you  don't  want  to  have  him  fall  around  and 
grab  your  laigs  and  show  you  his  fear  naked.  It 
makes  you  feel  ashamed.  So  Ed  gave  you  feelings, 
and  Steve  made  everything  right  easy  for  you  !  " 
There  was  irony  in  his  voice  as  he  surveyed  me,  but 
it  fell  away  at  once  into  sadness.  "  Both  was  mis 
creants.  But  if  Steve  had  played  the  coward,  too, 
it  would  have  been  a  whole  heap  easier  for  me." 
He  paused  before  adding,  "  And  Steve  was  not 
a  miscreant  once." 

His  voice  had  trembled,  and  I  felt  the  deep 
emotion  that  seemed  to  gain  upon  him  now  that 


394  THE   VIRGINIAN 

action  was  over  and  he  had  nothing  to  do  but 
think.  And  his  view  was  simple  enough:  you 
must  die  brave.  Failure  is  a  sort  of  treason  to 
the  brotherhood,  and  forfeits  pity.  It  was 
Steve's  perfect  bearing  that  had  caught  his 
heart  so  that  he  forgot  even  his  scorn  of  the  other 
man. 

But  this  was  by  no  means  all  that  was  to  come. 
He  harked  back  to  that  notion  of  a  prisoner  help 
ing  to  make  it  easy  for  his  executioner.  "  Easy 
plumb  to  the  end,"  he  pursued,  his  mind  reviewing 
the  acts  of  the  morning.  "  Why,  he  tried  to  give 
me  your  newspaper.  I  didn't  — " 

"  Oh,  no,"  I  said  hastily.  "  I  had  finished  with 
it." 

"  Well,  he  took  dying  as  naturally  as  he  took 
living.  Like  a  man  should.  Like  I  hope  to." 
Again  he  looked  at  the  pictures  in  his  mind. 
"  No  play-acting  nor  last  words.  He  just  told 
good-by  to  the  boys  as  we  led  his  horse  under  the 
limb  —  you  needn't  to  look  so  dainty,"  he  broke 
off.  "  You  ain't  going  to  get  any  more  shocking 
particulars." 

"  I  know  I'm  white-livered,"  I  said  with  a  species 
of  laugh.  "  I  never  crowd  and  stare  when  some 
body  is  hurt  in  the  street.  I  get  away." 

He  thought  this  over.  "  You  don't  mean  all 
of  that.  You'd  not  have  spoke  just  that  way 
about  crowding  and  staring  if  you  thought  well  of 
them  that  stare.  Staring  ain't  courage  ;  it's  trashy 
curiosity.  Now  you  did  not  have  this  thing  —  " 

He  had  stretched  out  his  hand  to  point,  but  it 
fell,  and  his  utterance  stopped,  and  he  jerked  his 
horse  to  a  stand. 


THE   COTTONWOODS  395 

My  nerves  sprang  like  a  wire  at  his  suddenness, 
and  I  looked  where  he  was  looking.  There  were 
the  cottonwoods,  close  in  front  of  us.  As  we  had 
travelled  and  talked  we  had  forgotten  them.  Now 
they  were  looming  within  a  hundred  yards ;  and 
our  trail  lay  straight  through  them. 

"  Let's  go  around  them,"  said  the  Virginian. 

When  we  had  come  back  from  our  circuit  into 
the  trail  he  continued :  "  You  did  not  have  that 
thing  to  do.  But  a  man  goes  through  with  his 
responsibilities  —  and  I  reckon  you  could." 

"  I  hope  so,"  I  answered.     "  How  about  Ed?  " 

"  He  was  not  a  man,  though  we  thought  he 
was  till  this.  Steve  and  I  started  punching  cattle 
together  at  the  Bordeaux  outfit,  north  of  Chey 
enne.  We  did  everything  together  in  those  days 
—  work  and  play.  Six  years  ago.  Steve  had 
many  good  points  onced." 

We  must  have  gone  two  miles  before  he  spoke 
again.  "  You  prob'ly  didn't  notice  Steve  ?  I 
mean  the  way  he  acted  to  me  ?"  It  was  a  ques 
tion,  but  he  did  not  wait  for  my  answer.  "  Steve 
never  said  a  word  to  me  all  through.  He  shunned 
it.  And  you  saw  how  neighborly  he  talked  to  the 
other  boys." 

"  Where  have  they  all  gone  ? "  I  asked. 

He  smiled  at  me.  "  It  cert'nly  is  lonesome  now, 
for  a  fact." 

"  I  didn't  know  you  felt  it,"  said  I. 

"  Feel  it!  —  they've  went  to  the  railroad.  Three 
of  them  are  witnesses  in  a  case  at  Evanston,  and 
the  Judge  wants  our  outfit  at  Medicine  Bow. 
Steve  shunned  me.  Did  he  think  I  was  going 
back  on  him  ?  " 


396  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"What  if  he  did?  You  were  not.  And  so 
nobody's  going  to  Wind  River  but  you  ?  " 

"  No.  Did  you  notice  Steve  would  not  give  us 
any  information  about  Shorty  ?  That  was  right. 
I  would  have  acted  that  way,  too."  Thus,  each 
time,  he  brought  me  back  to  the  subject. 

The  sun  was  now  shining  warm  during  two  or 
three  minutes  together,  and  gulfs  of  blue  opened 
in  the  great  white  clouds.  These  moved  and  met 
among  each  other,  and  parted,  like  hands  spread 
out,  slowly  weaving  a  spell  of  sleep  over  the  day 
after  the  wakeful  night  storm.  The  huge  con 
tours  of  the  earth  lay  basking  and  drying,  and  not 
one  living  creature,  bird  or  beast,  was  in  sight. 
Quiet  was  returning  to  my  revived  spirits,  but  there 
was  none  for  the  Virginian.  And  as  he  reasoned 
matters  out  aloud,  his  mood  grew  more  overcast. 

"  You  have  a  friend,  and  his  ways  are  your  ways. 
You  travel  together,  you  spree  together  confiden 
tially,  and  you  suit  each  other  down  to  the  ground. 
Then  one  day  you  find  him  putting  his  iron  on 
another  man's  calf.  You  tell  him  fair  and  square 
those  ways  have  never  been  your  ways  and  ain't 
going  to  be  your  ways.  Well,  that  does  not 
change  him  any,  for  it  seems  he's  disturbed  over 
getting  rich  quick  and  being  a  big  man  in  the 
Territory.  And  the  years  go  on,  until  you  are 
foreman  of  Judge  Henry's  ranch  and  he  —  is 
dangling  back  in  the  cottonwoods.  What  can  he 
claim  ?  Who  made  the  choice  ?  He  cannot  say, 
1  Here  is  my  old  friend  that  I  would  have  stood 
by.'  Can  he  say  that  ?  " 

"  But  he  didn't  say  it,"  I  protested. 

"  No.     He  shunned  me." 


THE   COTTON  WOODS  397 

"  Listen,"  I  said.  "  Suppose  while  you  were 
on  guard  he  had  whispered, '  Get  me  off '  —  would 
you  have  done  it  ?  " 

"  No,  sir !  "  said  the  Virginian,  hotly. 

"  Then  what  do  you  want?  "  I  asked.  "  What 
did  you  want  ?  " 

He  could  not  answer  me  —  but  I  had  not 
answered  him,  I  saw ;  so  I  pushed  it  farther. 
"  Did  you  want  indorsement  from  the  man  you 
were  hanging  ?  That's  asking  a  little  too  much." 

But  he  had  now  another  confusion.  "  Steve 
stood  by  Shorty,"  he  said  musingly.  "  It  was 
Shorty's  mistake  cost  him  his  life,  but  all  the  same 
he  didn't  want  us  to  catch  —  " 

u  You  are  mixing  things,"  I  interrupted.  "  I 
never  heard  you  mix  things  before.  And  it  was 
not  Shorty's  mistake." 

He  showed  momentary  interest.  "  Whose 
then  ?  " 

"  The  mistake  of  whoever  took  a  fool  into  their 
enterprise." 

"  That's  correct.  Well,  Trampas  took  Shorty 
in,  and  Steve  would  not  tell  on  him  either." 

I  still  tried  it,  saying,  "  They  were  all  in  the 
same  boat."  But  logic  was  useless  ;  he  had  lost 
his  bearings  in  a  fog  of  sentiment.  He  knew, 
knew  passionately,  that  he  had  done  right ;  but 
the  silence  of  his  old  friend  to  him  through  those 
last  hours  left  a  sting  that  no  reasoning  could 
assuage.  "  He  told  good-by  to  the  rest  of  the 
boys;  but  not  to  me."  And  nothing  that  I  could 
point  out  in  common  sense  turned  him  from  the 
thread  of  his  own  argument.  He  worked  round 
the  circle  again  to  self-justification.  "  Was  it  him 


398  THE   VIRGINIAN 

I  was  deserting?  Was  not  the  deserting  done 
by  him  the  day  I  spoke  my  mind  about  stealing 
calves  ?  I  have  kept  my  ways  the  same.  He  is 
the  one  that  took  to  new  ones.  The  man  I  used 
to  travel  with  is  not  the  man  back  there.  Same 
name,  to  be  sure.  And  same  body.  But  dif 
ferent  in  —  and  yet  he  had  the  memory  !  You 
can't  never  change  your  memory !  " 

He  gave  a  sob.  It  was  the  first  I  had  ever 
heard  from  him,  and  before  I  knew  what  I  was 
doing  I  had  reined  my  horse  up  to  his  and  put 
my  arm  around  his  shoulders.  I  had  no  sooner 
touched  him  than  he  was  utterly  overcome.  "  I 
knew  Steve  awful  well,"  he  said. 

Thus  we  had  actually  come  to  change  places ; 
for  early  in  the  morning  he  had  been  firm  while 
I  was  unnerved,  while  now  it  was  I  who  attempted 
to  steady  and  comfort  him. 

I  had  the  sense  to  keep  silent,  and  presently  he 
shook  my  hand,  not  looking  at  me  as  he  did  so. 
He  was  always  very  shy  of  demonstration.  And 
he  took  to  patting  the  neck  of  his  pony.  "  You 
Monte  hawss,"  said  he,  "you  think  you  are  wise, 
but  there's  a  lot  of  things  you  don't  savvy." 
Then  he  made  a  new  beginning  of  talk  be 
tween  us. 

"  It  is  kind  of  pitiful  about  Shorty." 

"  Very  pitiful,"  I  said. 

"  Do  you  know  about  him  ?  "  the  Virginian 
asked. 

"  I  know  there's  no  real  harm  in  him,  and  some 
real  good,  and  that  he  has  not  got  the  brains 
necessary  to  be  a  horse  thief." 

"  That's  so.     That's  very  true.     Trampas  has 


THE   COTTONWOODS  399 

led  him  in  deeper  than  his  stature  can  stand. 
Now  back  East  you  can  be  middling  and  get 
along.  But  if  you  go  to  try  a  thing  on  in  this 
Western  country,  you've  got  to  do  it  well.  You've 
got  to  deal  cyards  well ;  you've  got  to  steal  well ; 
and  if  you  claim  to  be  quick  with  your  gun,  you 
must  be  quick,  for  you're  a  public  temptation,  and 
some  man  will  not  resist  trying  to  prove  he  is  the 
quicker.  You  must  break  all  the  Commandments 
well  in  this  Western  country,  and  Shorty  should 
have  stayed  in  Brooklyn,  for  he  will  be  a  novice 
his  livelong  days.  You  don't  know  about  him? 
He  has  told  me  his  circumstances.  He  don't  re 
member  his  father,  and  it  was  like  he  could  have 
claimed  three  or  four.  And  I  expect  his  mother 
was  not  much  interested  in  him  before  or  after 
he  was  born.  He  ran  around,  and  when  he  was 
eighteen  he  got  to  be  help  to  a  grocery  man. 
But  a  girl  he  ran  with  kept  taking  all  his  pay 
and  teasing  him  for  more,  and  so  one  day  the 

frocery  man  caught  Shorty  robbing  his  till,  and 
red  him.  There  wasn't  no  one  to  tell  good-by 
to,  for  the  girl  had  to  go  to  the  country  to  see 
her  aunt,  she  said.  So  Shorty  hung  around  the 
store  and  kissed  the  grocery  cat  good-by.  He'd 
been  used  to  feeding  the  cat,  and  she'd  sit  in  his 
lap  and  purr,  he  told  me.  He  sends  money  back 
to  that  girl  now.  This  hyeh  country  is  no  coun 
try  for  Shorty,  for  he  will  be  a  conspicuous  novice 
all  his  days." 

"  Perhaps  he'll  prefer  honesty  after  his  narrow 
shave,"  I  said. 

But  the  Virginian  shook  his  head.  "  Trampas 
has  got  hold  of  him." 


400  THE  VIRGINIAN 

The  day  was  now  all  blue  above,  and  all  warm 
and  dry  beneath.  We  had  begun  to  wind  in  and 
rise  among  the  first  slopes  of  the  foot-hills,  and  we 
had  talked  ourselves  into  silence.  At  the  first 
running  water  we  made  a  long  nooning,  and  I 
slept  on  the  bare  ground.  My  body  was  lodged 
so  fast  and  deep  in  slumber  that  when  the  Vir 
ginian  shook  me  awake  I  could  not  come  back  to 
life  at  once;  it  was  the  clump  of  cottonwoods, 
small  and  far  out  in  the  plain  below  us,  that  re 
called  me. 

"  It'll  not  be  watching  us  much  longer,"  said 
the  Virginian.  He  made  it  a  sort  of  joke ;  but  I 
knew  that  both  of  us  were  glad  when  presently 
we  rode  into  a  steeper  country,  and  among  its 
folds  and  curvings  lost  all  sight  of  the  plain.  He 
had  not  slept,  I  found.  His  explanation  was  that 
the  packs  needed  better  balancing,  and  after  that 
he  had  gone  up  and  down  the  stream  on  the 
chance  of  trout.  But  his  haunted  eyes  gave  me 
the  real  reason  —  they  spoke  of  Steve,  no  matter 
what  he  spoke  of;  it  was  to  be  no  short  thing 
with  him. 


XXXII 

SUPERSTITION    TRAIL 

WE  did  not  make  thirty-five  miles  that  day,  nor 
yet  twenty-five,  for  he  had  let  me  sleep.  We 
made  an  early  camp  and  tried  some  unsuccessful 
fishing,  over  which  he  was  cheerful,  promising 
trout  to-morrow  when  we  should  be  higher  among 
the  mountains.  He  never  again  touched  or  came 
near  the  subject  that  was  on  his  mind,  but  while 
I  sat  writing  my  diary,  he  went  off  to  his  horse 
Monte,  and  I  could  hear  that  he  occasionally 
talked  to  that  friend. 

Next  day  we  swung  southward  from  what  is 
known  to  many  as  the  Conant  trail,  and  headed 
for  that  short  cut  through  the  Tetons  which  is 
known  to  but  a  few.  Bitch  Creek  was  the  name 
of  the  stream  we  now  followed,  and  here  there 
was  such  good  fishing  that  we  idled ;  and  the 
horses  and  I  at  least  enjoyed  ourselves.  For  they 
found  fresh  pastures  and  shade  in  the  now  plenti 
ful  woods  ;  and  the  mountain  odors  and  the  moun 
tain  heights  were  enough  for  me  when  the  fish 
refused  to  rise.  This  road  of  ours  now  became 
the  road  which  the  pursuit  had  taken  before  the 
capture.  Going  along,  I  noticed  the  footprints 
of  many  hoofs,  rain-blurred  but  recent,  and  these 
were  the  tracks  of  the  people  I  had  met  in  the 
stable. 

2D  401 


402  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  You  can  notice  Monte's,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  He  is  the  only  one  that  has  his  hind  feet  shod. 
There's  several  trails  from  this  point  down  to 
where  we  have  come  from." 

We  mounted  now  over  a  long  slant  of  rock, 
smooth  and  of  wide  extent  Above  us  it  went  up 
easily  into  a  little  side  canon,  but  ahead,  where 
our  way  was,  it  grew  so  steep  that  we  got  off  and 
led  our  horses.  This  brought  us  to  the  next 
higher  level  of  the  mountain,  a  space  of  sage 
brush  more  open,  where  the  rain-washed  tracks 
appeared  again  in  the  softer  ground. 

"  Some  one  has  been  here  since  the  rain,"  I 
called  to  the  Virginian,  who  was  still  on  the  rock, 
walking  up  behind  the  packhorses. 

"  Since  the  rain  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  That's  not 
two  days  yet."  He  came  and  examined  the  foot 
prints.  "  A  man  and  a  hawss,"  he  said,  frowning. 
"  Going  the  same  way  we  are.  How  did  he  come 
to  pass  us,  and  us  not  see  him  ? " 

"  One  of  the  other  trails,"  I  reminded  him. 

"  Yes,  but  there's  not  many  that  knows  them. 
They  are  pretty  rough  trails." 

"  Worse  than  this  one  we're  taking  ?  " 

"  Not  much ;  only  how  does  he  come  to  know 
any  of  them  ?  And  why  don't  he  take  the  Conant 
trail  that's  open  and  easy  and  not  much  longer  ? 
One  man  and  a  hawss.  I  don't  see  who  he  is  or 
what  he  wants  here." 

"  Probably  a  prospector,"  I  suggested. 

"  Only  one  outfit  of  prospectors  has  ever  beei 
here,  and  they  claimed  there  was  no  mineral-bear 
ing  rock  in  these  parts." 

We  got  back  into  our  saddles  with  the  mystery 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  403 

unsolved.  To  the  Virginian  it  was  a  greater  one, 
apparently,  than  to  me ;  why  should  one  have  to 
account  for  every  stray  traveller  in  the  mountains  ? 

"That's  queer,  too,"  said  the  Virginian.  He 
was  now  riding  in  front  of  me,  and  he  stopped, 
looking  down  at  the  trail.  "  Don't  you  notice  ?  " 

It  did  not  strike  me. 

"  Why,  he  keeps  walking  beside  his  hawss ;  he 
don't  get  on  him." 

Now  we,  of  course,  had  mounted  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  better  trail  after  the  steep  rock,  and 
that  was  quite  half  a  mile  back.  Still,  I  had  a 
natural  explanation.  "  He's  leading  a  packhorse. 
He's  a  poor  trapper,  and  walks." 

"  Packhorses  ain't  usually  shod  before  and  be 
hind,"  said  the  Virginian ;  and  sliding  to  the 
ground  he  touched  the  footprints.  "  They  are 
not  four  hours  old,"  said  he.  "  This  bank's  in 
shadow  by  one  o'clock,  and  the  sun  has  not  cooked 
them  dusty." 

We  continued  on  our  way ;  and  although  it 
seemed  no  very  particular  thing  to  me  that  a  man 
should  choose  to  walk  and  lead  his  horse  for  a 
while,  —  I  often  did  so  to  limber  my  muscles,  — 
nevertheless  I  began  to  catch  the  Virginian's  un 
certain  feeling  about  this  traveller  whose  steps 
had  appeared  on  our  path  in  mid-journey,  as  if  he 
had  alighted  from  the  mid-air,  and  to  remind  my 
self  that  he  had  come  over  the  great  face  of  rock 
from  another  trail  and  thus  joined  us,  and  that 
indigent  trappers  are  to  be  found  owning  but  a 
single  horse  and  leading  him  with  their  belong 
ings  through  the  deepest  solitudes  of  the  moun 
tains  —  none  of  this  quite  brought  back  to  me 


404  THE   VIRGINIAN 

the  comfort  which  had  been  mine  since  we  left 
the  cottonwoods  out  of  sight  down  in  the  plain. 
Hence  I  called  out  sharply,  "  What's  the  matter 
now  ?  "  when  the  Virginian  suddenly  stopped  his 
horse  again. 

He  looked  down  at  the  trail,  and  then  he  very 
slowly  turned  round  in  his  saddle  and  stared  back 
steadily  at  me.  "  There's  two  of  them,"  he  said. 

"  Two  what  ? " 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  You  mus^  know  whether  it's  two  horses  or 
two  men,"  I  said,  almost  angrily. 

But  to  this  he  made  no  answer,  sitting  quite 
still  on  his  horse  and  contemplating  the  ground. 
The  silence  was  fastening  on  me  like  a  spell,  and 
I  spurred  my  horse  impatiently  forward  to  see  for 
myself.  The  footprints  of  two  men  were  there  in 
the  trail. 

"  What  do  you  say  to  that  ?  "  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Kind  of  ridiculous,  ain't  it  ?  " 

"  Very  quaint,"  I  answered,  groping  for  the  ex 
planation.  There  was  no  rock  here  to  walk  over 
and  step  from  into  the  softer  trail.  These  second 
steps  came  more  out  of  the  air  than  the  first. 
And  my  brain  played  me  the  evil  trick  of  show 
ing  me  a  dead  man  in  a  gray  flannel  shirt. 

"  It's  two,  you  see,  travelling  with  one  hawss, 
and  they  take  turns  riding  him." 

"  Why,  of  course  !  "  I  exclaimed  ;  and  we  went 
along  for  a  few  paces. 

"  There  you  are,"  said  the  Virginian,  as  the 
trail  proved  him  right.  "  Number  one  has  got 
on.  My  God,  what's  that  ?  " 

At  a  crashing  in  the  woods  very  close  to  us  we 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  405 

both  flung  round  and  caught  sight  of  a  vanishing 
elk. 

It  left  us  confronted,  smiling  a  little,  and  sound 
ing  each  other  with  our  eyes.  "  Well,  we  didn't 
need  him  for  meat,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  A  spike-horn,  wasn't  it  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Yes,  just  a  spike-horn." 

For  a  while  now  as  we  rode  we  kept  up  a  cheer 
ful  conversation  about  elk.  We  wondered  if  we 
should  meet  many  more  close  to  the  trail  like  this ; 
but  it  was  not  long  before  our  words  died  away. 
We  had  come  into  a  veritable  gulf  of  mountain 
peaks,  sharp  at  their  bare  summits  like  teeth, 
holding  fields  of  snow  lower  down,  and  glittering 
still  in  full  day  up  there,  while  down  among  our 
pines  and  parks  the  afternoon  was  growing  sombre. 
All  the  while  the  fresh  hoofprints  of  the  horse  and 
the  fresh  footprints  of  the  man  preceded  us.  In 
the  trees,  and  in  the  opens,  across  the  levels,  and 
up  the  steeps,  they  were  there.  And  so  they  were 
not  four  hours  old !  Were  they  so  much  ?  Might 
we  not,  round  some  turn,  come  upon  the  makers 
of  them  ?  I  began  to  watch  for  this.  And  again 
my  brain  played  me  an  evil  trick,  against  which  I 
found  myself  actually  reasoning  thus :  if  they  took 
turns  riding,  then  walking  must  tire  them  as  it  did 
me  or  any  man.  And  besides,  there  was  a  horse. 
Writh  such  thoughts  I  combated  the  fancy  that 
those  footprints  were  being  made  immediately  in 
front  of  us  all  the  while,  and  that  they  were  the 
only  sign  of  any  presence  which  our  eyes  could 
see.  But  my  fancy  overcame  my  thoughts.  It 
was  shame  only  which  held  me  from  asking  this 
question  of  the  Virginian :  Had  one  horse  served 


406  THE   VIRGINIAN 

in  both  cases  of  Justice  down  at  the  cotton  woods  ? 
I  wondered  about  this.  One  horse  —  or  had  the 
strangling  nooses  dragged  two  saddles  empty  at 
the  same  signal  ?  Most  likely ;  and  therefore 
these  people  up  here  —  Was  I  going  back  to  the 
nursery  ?  I  brought  myself  up  short.  And  I  told 
myself  to  be  steady;  there  lurked  in  this  brain- 
process  which  was  going  on  beneath  my  reason 
a  threat  worse  than  the  childish  apprehensions  it 
created.  I  reminded  myself  that  I  was  a  man 
grown,  twenty-five  years  old,  and  that  I  must  not 
merely  seem  like  one,  but  feel  like  one.  "  You're 
not  afraid  of  the  dark,  I  suppose  ?  "  This  I  uttered 
aloud,  unwittingly. 

"  What's  that  ?  " 

I  started ;  but  it  was  only  the  Virginian  behind 
me.  "  Oh,  nothing.  The  air  is  getting  colder  up 
here." 

I  had  presently  a  great  relief.  We  came  to  a 
place  where  again  this  trail  mounted  so  abruptly 
that  we  once  more  got  off  to  lead  our  horses.  So 
likewise  had  our  predecessors  done ;  and  as  I 
watched  the  two  different  sets  of  bootprints,  I 
observed  something  and  hastened  to  speak  of  it. 

"  One  man  is  much  heavier  than  the  other." 

"  I  was  hoping  I'd  not  have  to  tell  you  that," 
said  the  Virginian. 

"  You're  always  ahead  of  me !  Well,  still  my 
education  is  progressing." 

"Why,  yes.  You'll  equal  an  Injun  if  you  keep 
on." 

It  was  good  to  be  facetious ;  and  I  smiled  to 
myself  as  I  trudged  upward.  We  came  off  the 
steep  place,  leaving  the  canon  beneath  us,  and 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  407 

took  to  horseback.  And  as  we  proceeded  over 
the  final  gentle  slant  up  to  the  rim  of  the  great 
basin  that  was  set  among  the  peaks,  the  Virginian 
was  jocular  once  more. 

"  Pounds  has  got  on,"  said  he,  "  and  Ounces  is 
walking." 

I  glanced  over  my  shoulder  at  him,  and  he 
nodded  as  he  fixed  the  weather-beaten  crimson 
handkerchief  round  his  neck.  Then  he  threw  a 
stone  at  a  pack  animal  that  was  delaying  on  the 
trail.  "  Damn  your  buckskin  hide,"  he  drawled. 
"  You  can  view  the  scenery  from  the  top." 

He  was  so  natural,  sitting  loose  in  the  saddle, 
and  cursing  in  his  gentle  voice,  that  I  laughed  to 
think  what  visions  I  had  been  harboring.  The 
two  dead  men  riding  one  horse  through  the  moun 
tains  vanished,  and  I  came  back  to  every  day. 

"  Do  you  think  we'll  catch  up  with  those  peo 
ple  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Not  likely.  They're  travelling  about  the  same 
gait  we  are." 

"  Ounces  ought  to  be  the  best  walker." 

"Up  hill,  yes.  But  Pounds  will  go  down 
a-foggin'." 

We  gained  the  rim  of  the  basin.  It  lay  below 
us,  a  great  cup  of  country,  —  rocks,  woods,  opens, 
and  streams.  The  tall  peaks  rose  like  spires 
around  it,  magnificent  and  bare  in  the  last  of  the 
sun;  and  we  surveyed  this  upper  world,  letting 
our  animals  get  breath.  Our  bleak,  crumbled 
rim  ran  like  a  rampart  between  the  towering  tops, 
a  half  circle  of  five  miles  or  six,  very  wide  in  some 
parts,  and  in  some  shrinking  to  a  scanty  foothold, 
as  here.  Here  our  trail  crossed  over  it  between 


4o8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

two  eroded  and  fantastic  shapes  of  stone,  like 
mushrooms,  or  misshapen  heads  on  pikes.  Banks 
of  snow  spread  up  here  against  the  black  rocks, 
but  half  an  hour  would  see  us  descended  to  the 
green  and  the  woods.  I  looked  down,  both  of  us 
looked  down,  but  our  forerunners  were  not  there. 

"  They'll  be  camping  somewhere  in  this  basin, 
though,"  said  the  Virginian,  staring  at  the  dark 
pines.  "  They  have  not  come  this  trail  by  acci 
dent." 

A  cold  little  wind  blew  down  between  our  stone 
shapes,  and  upward  again,  eddying.  And  round 
a  corner  upward  with  it  came  fluttering  a  leaf 
of  newspaper,  and  caught  against  an  edge  close 
to  me. 

"  What's  the  latest  ? "  inquired  the  Virginian 
from  his  horse.  For  I  had  dismounted,  and  had 
picked  up  the  leaf. 

"  Seems  to  be  inter-esting,"  I  next  heard  him 
say.  "  Can't  you  tell  a  man  what's  making  your 
eyes  bug  out  so  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  my  voice  replied  to  him,  and  it  sounded 
like  some  stranger  speaking  lightly  near  by ;  "  oh, 
yes !  Decidedly  interesting."  My  voice  mimicked 
his  pronunciation.  "  It's  quite  the  latest,  I  imagine. 
You  had  better  read  it  yourself."  And  I  handed 
it  to  him  with  a  smile,  watching  his  countenance, 
while  my  brain  felt  as  if  clouds  were  rushing 
through  it. 

I  saw  his  eyes  quietly  run  the  headings  over. 
"  Well  ? "  he  inquired,  after  scanning  it  on  both 
sides.  "  I  don't  seem  to  catch  the  excitement. 
Fremont  County  is  going  to  hold  elections.  I  see 
they  claim  Jake  —  " 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  409 

"  It's  mine,"  I  cut  him  off.  "  My  own  paper. 
Those  are  my  pencil  marks." 

I  do  not  think  that  a  microscope  could  have 
discerned  a  change  in  his  face.  "  Oh,"  he  com 
mented,  holding  the  paper,  and  fixing  it  with  a 
critical  eye.  "  You  mean  this  is  the  one  you  lent 
Steve,  and  he  wanted  to  give  me  to  give  back  to 
you.  And  so  them  are  your  own  marks."  For 
a  moment  more  he  held  it  judicially,  as  I  have 
seen  men  hold  a  contract  upon  whose  terms  they 
were  finally  passing.  "  Well,  you  have  got  it 
back  now,  anyway."  And  he  handed  it  to  me. 

"  Only  a  piece  of  it ! "  I  exclaimed,  always 
lightly.  And  as  I  took  it  from  him  his  hand 
chanced  to  touch  mine.  It  was  cold  as  ice. 

"  They  ain't  through  readin'  the  rest,"  he  ex 
plained  easily.  "  Don't  you  throw  it  away !  After 
they've  taken  such  trouble." 

"  That's  true,"  I  answered.  "  I  wonder  if  it's 
Pounds  or  Ounces  I'm  indebted  to." 

Thus  we  made  further  merriment  as  we  rode 
down  into  the  great  basin.  Before  us,  the  horse 
and  boot  tracks  showed  plain  in  the  soft  slough 
where  melted  snow  ran  half  the  day. 

"  If  it's  a  paper  chase,"  said  the  Virginian, 
"  they'll  drop  no  more  along  here." 

"  Unless  it  gets  dark,"  said  I. 

"  We'll  camp  before  that.  Maybe  we'll  see 
their  fire." 

We  did  not  see  their  fire.  We  descended  in 
the  chill  silence,  while  the  mushroom  rocks  grew 
far  and  the  sombre  woods  approached.  By  a 
stream  we  got  off  where  two  banks  sheltered  us ; 
for  a  bleak  wind  cut  down  over  the  crags  now 


4io  THE   VIRGINIAN 

and  then,  making  the  pines  send  out  a  great  note 
through  the  basin,  like  breakers  in  a  heavy  sea. 
But  we  made  cosey  in  the  tent.  We  pitched  the 
tent  this  night,  and  I  was  glad  to  have  it  shut  out 
the  mountain  peaks.  They  showed  above  the 
banks  where  we  camped ;  and  in  the  starlight 
their  black  shapes  rose  stark  against  the  sky. 
They,  with  the  pines  and  the  wind,  were  a  bed 
room  too  unearthly  this  night.  And  as  soon  as 
our  supper  dishes  were  washed  we  went  inside  to 
our  lantern  and  our  game  of  cribbage. 

"  This  is  snug,"  said  the  Virginian,  as  we  played. 
"  That  wind  don't  get  down  here." 

"  Smoking  is  snug,  too,"  said  I.  And  we 
marked  our  points  for  an  hour,  with  no  words 
save  about  the  cards. 

"  I'll  be  pretty  near  glad  when  we  get  out  of 
these  mountains,"  said  the  Virginian.  "  They're 
most  too  big." 

The  pines  had  altogether  ceased ;  but  their 
silence  was  as  tremendous  as  their  roar  had  been. 

"  I  don't  know,  though,"  he  resumed.  "  There's 
times  when  the  plains  can  be  awful  big,  too." 

Presently  we  finished  a  hand,  and  he  said,  "  Let 
me  see  that  paper." 

He  sat  reading  it  apparently  through,  while  I 
arranged  my  blankets  to  make  a  warm  bed.  Then, 
since  the  paper  continued  to  absorb  him,  I  got 
myself  ready,  and  slid  between  my  blankets  for 
the  night.  "  You'll  need  another  candle  soon  in 
that  lantern,"  said  I. 

He  put  the  paper  down.     "  I  would  do  it  all 
over  again,"  he  began.    "  The  whole  thing  just  th< 
same.     He  knowed  the  customs  of  the  country, 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  411 

and  he  played  the  game.  No  call  to  blame  me 
for  the  customs  of  the  country.  You  leave  other 
folks'  cattle  alone,  or  you  take  the  consequences, 
and  it  was  all  known  to  Steve  from  the  start. 
Would  he  have  me  take  the  Judge's  wages  and 
give  him  the  wink  ?  He  must  have  changed  a 
heap  from  the  Steve  I  knew  if  he  expected  that. 
I  don't  believe  he  expected  that.  He  knew  well 
enough  the  only  thing  that  would  have  let  him 
off  would  have  been  a  regular  jury.  For  the 
thieves  have  got  hold  of  the  juries  in  Johnson 
County.  I  would  do  it  all  over,  just  the  same." 

The  expiring  flame  leaped  in  the  lantern,  and 
fell  blue.  He  broke  off  in  his  words  as  if  to 
arrange  the  light,  but  did  not,  sitting  silent  instead, 
just  visible,  and  seeming  to  watch  the  death  strug 
gle  of  the  flame.  I  could  find  nothing  to  say  to 
him,  and  I  believed  he  was  now  winning  his  way 
back  to  serenity  by  himself.  He  kept  his  outward 
man  so  nearly  natural  that  I  forgot  about  that  cold 
touch  of  his  hand,  and  never  guessed  how  far  out 
from  reason  the  tide  of  emotion  was  even  now 
whirling  him.  "  I  remember  at  Cheyenne  onced," 
he  resumed.  And  he  told  me  of  a  Thanksgiving 
visit  to  town  that  he  had  made  with  Steve.  "  We 
was  just  colts  then,"  he  said.  He  dwelt  on 
their  coltish  doings,  their  adventures  sought  and 
wrought  in  the  perfect  fellowship  of  youth.  "  For 
Steve  and  me  most  always  hunted  in  couples  back 
in  them  gamesome  years,"  he  explained.  And  he 
fell  into  the  elemental  talk  of  sex,  such  talk  as 
would  be  an  elk's  or  tiger's;  and  spoken  so  by 
him,  simply  and  naturally,  as  we  speak  of  the 
seasons,  or  of  death,  or  of  any  actuality,  it  was 


4i2  THE  VIRGINIAN 

without  offence.  But  it  would  be  offence  should 
I  repeat  it.  Then,  abruptly  ending  these  memo 
ries  of  himself  and  Steve,  he  went  out  of  the  tent, 
and  I  heard  him  dragging  a  log  to  the  fire.  When 
it  had  blazed  up,  there  on  the  tent  wall  was  his 
shadow  and  that  of  the  log  where  he  sat  with  his 
half-broken  heart.  And  all  the  while  I  supposed 
he  was  master  of  himself,  and  self-justified  against 
Steve's  omission  to  bid  him  good-by. 

I  must  have  fallen  asleep  before  he  returned, 
for  I  remember  nothing  except  waking  and  find 
ing  him  in  his  blankets  beside  me.  The  fire 
shadow  was  gone,  and  gray,  cold  light  was  dimly 
on  the  tent.  He  slept  restlessly,  and  his  forehead 
was  ploughed  by  lines  of  pain.  While  I  looked 
at  him  he  began  to  mutter,  and  suddenly  started 
up  with  violence.  "  No  !  "  he  cried  out ;  "  no  ! 
Just  the  same ! "  and  thus  wakened  himself,  staring. 
"What's  the  matter?"  he  demanded.  He  was 
slow  in  getting  back  to  where  we  were  ;  and  full 
consciousness  found  him  sitting  up  with  his  eyes 
fixed  on  mine.  They  were  more  haunted  than 
they  had  been  at  all,  and  his  next  speech  came 
straight  from  his  dream.  u  Maybe  you'd  better 
quit  me.  This  ain't  your  trouble." 

I  laughed.     "  Why,  what  is  the  trouble  ?" 

His  eyes  still  intently  fixed  on  mine.  "  Do 
you  think  if  we  changed  our  trail  we  could  lose 
them  from  us  ?" 

I  was  framing  a  jocose  reply  about  Ounces 
being  a  good  walker,  when  the  sound  of  hoofs 
rushing  in  the  distance  stopped  me,  and  he  ran 
out  of  the  tent  with  his  rifle.  When  I  followed 
with  mine  he  was  up  the  bank,  and  all  his  powers 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  413 

alert.  But  nothing  came  out  of  the  dimness  save 
our  three  stampeded  horses.  They  crashed  over 
fallen  timber  and  across  the  open  to  where  their 
picketed  comrade  grazed  at  the  end  of  his  rope. 
By  him  they  came  to  a  stand,  and  told  him,  I 
suppose,  what  they  had  seen  ;  for  all  four  now 
faced  in  the  same  direction,  looking  away  into  the 
mysterious  dawn.  We  likewise  stood  peering,  and 
my  rifle  barrel  felt  cold  in  my  hand.  The  dawn 
was  all  we  saw,  the  inscrutable  dawn,  coming  and 
coming  through  the  black  pines  and  the  gray  open 
of  the  basin.  There  above  lifted  the  peaks,  no  sun 
yet  on  them,  and  behind  us  our  stream  made  a 
little  tinkling. 

"  A  bear,  I  suppose,"  said  I,  at  length. 

His  strange  look  fixed  me  again,  and  then  his 
eyes  went  to  the  horses.  "  They  smell  things  we 
can't  smell,"  said  he,  very  slowly.  "  Will  you 
prove  to  me  they  don't  see  things  we  can't  see  ? " 

A  chill  shot  through  me,  and  I  could  not  help 
a  frightened  glance  where  we  had  been  watching. 
But  one  of  the  horses  began  to  graze  and  I  had  a 
wholesome  thought.  "  He's  tired  of  whatever  he 
sees,  then,"  said  I,  pointing. 

A  smile  came  for  a  moment  in  the  Virginian's 
face.  "  Must  be  a  poor  show,"  he  observed.  All 
the  horses  were  grazing  now,  and  he  added,  "  It 
ain't  hurt  their  appetites  any." 

We  made  our  own  breakfast  then.  And  what 
uncanny  dread  I  may  have  been  touched  with  up 
to  this  time  henceforth  left  me  in  the  face  of  a 
real  alarm.  The  shock  of  Steve  was  working 
upon  the  Virginian.  He  was  aware  of  it  himself ; 
he  was  fighting  it  with  all  his  might ;  and  he  was 


4i4  THE   VIRGINIAN 

being  overcome.  He  was  indeed  like  a  gallant 
swimmer  against  whom  both  wind  and  tide  have 
conspired.  And  in  this  now  foreboding  solitude 
there  was  only  myself  to  throw  him  ropes.  His 
strokes  for  safety  were  as  bold  as  was  the  under 
tow  that  ceaselessly  annulled  them. 

"  I  reckon  I  made  a  fuss  in  the  tent  ? "  said  he, 
feeling  his  way  with  me. 

I  threw  him  a  rope.  "  Yes.  Nightmare  — 
indigestion  —  too  much  newspaper  before  re 
tiring." 

He  caught  the  rope.  "  That's  correct !  I  had 
a  hell  of  a  foolish  dream  for  a  growed-up  man. 
You'd  not  think  it  of  me." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  should.  I've  had  them  after  pro 
longed  lobster  and  champagne." 

"  Ah,"  he  murmured,  "  prolonged  !  Prolonged 
is  what  does  it."  He  glanced  behind  him.  "  Steve 
came  back  —  " 

"  In  your  lobster  dream,"  I  put  in. 

But  he  missed  this  rope.  "  Yes,"  he  answered, 
with  his  eyes  searching  me.  "  And  he  handed 
me  the  paper  —  " 

"  By  the  way,  where  is  that  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  built  the  fire  with  it.  But  when  I  took  it 
from  him  it  was  a  six-shooter  I  had  hold  of, 
and  pointing  at  my  breast.  And  then  Steve 
spoke.  '  Do  you  think  you're  fit  to  live  ? '  Steve 
said ;  and  I  got  hot  at  him,  and  I  reckon  I  must 
have  told  him  what  I  thought  of  him.  You  heard 
me,  I  expect  ? " 

"Glad   I    didn't.      Your   language    sometimes 

He  laughed  out.     "  Oh,  I  account  for  all  this 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  415 

that's  happening  just  like  you  do.  If  we  gave 
our  explanations,  they'd  be  pretty  near  twins." 

"  The  horses  saw  a  bear,  then  ?  " 

"  Maybe  a  bear.  Maybe  " — but  here  the  tide 
caught  him  again  —  "  What's  your  idea  about 
dreams  ? " 

My  ropes  were  all  out.  "  Liver  —  nerves,"  was 
the  best  I  could  do. 

But  now  he  swam  strongly  by  himself. 

"You  may  think  I'm  discreditable,"  he  said, 
"  but  I  know  I  am.  It  ought  to  take  more  than 
—  well,  men  have  lost  their  friendships  before. 
Feuds  and  wars  have  cloven  a  right  smart  of  bonds 
in  twain.  And  if  my  haid  is  going  to  get  shook 
by  a  little  old  piece  of  newspaper —  I'm  ashamed  I 
burned  that.  I'm  ashamed  to  have  been  that  weak." 

"  Any  man  gets  unstrung,"  I  told  him.  My 
ropes  had  become  straws ;  and  I  strove  to  frame 
some  policy  for  the  next  hours. 

We  now  finished  breakfast  and  set  forth  to 
catch  the  horses.  As  we  drove  them  in  I  found 
that  the  Virginian  was  telling  me  a  ghost  story. 
"  At  half-past  three  in  the  morning  she  saw  her 
runaway  daughter  standing  with  a  babe  in  her 
arms ;  but  when  she  moved  it  was  all  gone.  Later 
they  found  it  was  the  very  same  hour  the  young 
mother  died  in  Nogales.  And  she  sent  for  the 
child  and  raised  it  herself.  I  knowed  them  both 
back  home.  Do  you  believe  that  ?  " 

I  said  nothing. 

"  No  more  do  I  believe  it,"  he  asserted.  "  And 
see  here !  Nogales  time  is  three  hours  different 
from  Richmond.  I  didn't  know  about  that  point 
then." 


4i6  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Once  out  of  these  mountains,  I  knew  he  could 
right  himself ;  but  even  I,  who  had  no  Steve  to 
dream  about,  felt  this  silence  of  the  peaks  was 
preying  on  me. 

"  Her  daughter  and  her  might  have  been 
thinkin'  mighty  hard  about  each  other  just  then," 
he  pursued.  "  But  Steve  is  dead.  Finished.  You 
cert'nly  don't  believe  there's  anything  more  ? " 

"  I  wish  I  could,"  I  told  him. 

"  No,  I'm  satisfied.  Heaven  didn't  never  inter 
est  me  much.  But  if  there  was  a  world  of  dreams 
after  you  went — "  He  stopped  himself  and 
turned  his  searching  eyes  away  from  mine. 
"  There's  a  heap  o'  darkness  wherever  you  try  to 
step,"  he  said,  "  and  I  thought  I'd  left  off  wasting 
thoughts  on  the  subject.  You  see  "  —  he  dexter 
ously  roped  a  horse,  and  once  more  his  splendid 
sanity  was  turned  to  gold  by  his  imagination  — 
"  I  expect  in  many  growed-up  men  you'd  call 
sensible  there's  a  little  boy  sleepin'  —  the  little  kid 
they  onced  was  —  that  still  keeps  his  fear  of  the 
dark.  You  mentioned  the  dark  yourself  yester 
day.  Well,  this  experience  has  woke  up  that  kid 
in  me,  and  blamed  if  I  can  coax  the  little  cuss  to 
go  to  sleep  again !  I  keep  a-telling  him  day 
light  will  sure  come,  but  he  keeps  a-crying  and 
holding  on  to  me." 

Somewhere  far  in  the  basin  there  was  a  faint 
sound,  and  we  stood  still. 

"  Hush  !  "  he  said. 

But  it  was  like  our  watching  the  dawn ;  nothing 
more  followed. 

"  They  have  shot  that  bear,"  I  remarked. 

He  did  not  answer,  and  we  put  the  saddles  on 


SUPERSTITION  TRAIL  41 7 

without  talk.  We  made  no  haste,  but  we  wrere 
not  over  half  an  hour,  I  suppose,  in  getting  off 
with  the  packs.  It  was  not  a  new  thing  to  hear 
a  shot  where  wild  game  was  in  plenty  ;  yet  as  we 
rode  that  shot  sounded  already  in  my  mind  differ 
ent  from  others.  Perhaps  I  should  not  believe 
this  to-day  but  for  what  I  look  back  to.  To  make 
camp  last  night  we  had  turned  off  the  trail,  and 
now  followed  the  stream  down  for  a  while,  taking 
next  a  cut  through  the  wood.  In  this  way  we 
came  upon  the  tracks  of  our  horses  where  they  had 
been  galloping  back  to  the  camp  after  their  fright. 
They  had  kicked  up  the  damp  and  matted  pine 
needles  very  plainly  all  along. 

"  Nothing  has  been  here  but  themselves, 
though,"  said  I. 

"  And  they  ain't  showing  signs  of  remembering 
any  scare,"  said  the  Virginian. 

In  a  little  while  we  emerged  upon  an  open. 

"  Here's  where  they  was  grazing,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian  ;  and  the  signs  were  clear  enough.  "  Here's 
where  they  must  have  got  their  scare,"  he  pur 
sued.  "  You  stay  with  them  while  I  circle  a 
little."  So  I  stayed;  and  certainly  our  animals 
were  very  calm  at  visiting  this  scene.  When  you 
bring  a  horse  back  to  where  he  has  recently 
encountered  a  wild  animal  his  ears  and  his  nostrils 
are  apt  to  be  wide  awake. 

The  Virginian  had  stopped  and  was  beckoning 
to  me. 

"  Here's  your  bear,"  said  he,  as  I  arrived. 
"  Two-legged,  you  see.  And  he  had  a  hawss  of 
his  own."  There  was  a  stake  driven  down  where 
an  animal  had  been  picketed  for  the  night. 


2E 


4i 8  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Looks  like  Ounces,"  I  said,  considering  the 
bootprints. 

"  It's  Ounces.  And  Ounces  wanted  another 
hawss  very  bad,  so  him  and  Pounds  could  travel 
like  gentlemen  should." 

"  But  Pounds  doesn't  seem  to  have  been  with 
him." 

"  Oh,  Pounds,  he  was  making  coffee,  somewheres 
in  yonder,  when  this  happened.  Neither  of  them 
guessed  there'd  be  other  hawsses  wandering  here 
in  the  night,  or  they  both  would  have  come."  He 
turned  back  to  our  pack  animals. 

"  Then  you'll  not  hunt  for  this  camp  to  make 
sure  ? " 

"  I  prefer  making  sure  first.  We  might  be  ex 
pected  at  that  camp." 

He  took  out  his  rifle  from  beneath  his  leg  and 
set  it  across  his  saddle  at  half-cock.  I  did  the 
same ;  and  thus  cautiously  we  resumed  our  jour 
ney  in  a  slightly  different  direction.  "  This  ain't 
all  we're  going  to  find  out,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  Ounces  had  a  good  idea ;  but  I  reckon  he  made 
a  bad  mistake  later." 

We  had  found  out  a  good  deal  without  any 
more,  I  thought.  Ounces  had  gone  to  bring  in 
their  single  horse,  and  coming  upon  three  more 
in  the  pasture  had  undertaken  to  catch  one  and 
failed,  merely  driving  them  where  he  feared  to 
follow. 

"  Shorty  never   could    rope  a  horse  alone," 
remarked. 

The  Virginian  grinned.  "  Shorty  ?  Well, 
Shorty  sounds  as  well  as  Ounces.  But  that  ain't 
the  mistake  I'm  thinking  he  made." 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  419 

I  knew  that  he  would  not  tell  me,  but  that  was 
just  like  him.  For  the  last  twenty  minutes,  hav 
ing  something  to  do,  he  had  become  himself 
again,  had  come  to  earth  from  that  unsafe  coun 
try  of  the  brain  where  beckoned  a  spectral  Steve. 
Nothing  was  left  but  in  his  eyes  that  question 
which  pain  had  set  there ;  and  I  wondered  if  his 
friend  of  old,  who  seemed  so  brave  and  amiable, 
would  have  dealt  him  that  hurt  at  the  solemn  end 
had  he  known  what  a  poisoned  wound  it  would 
be. 

We  came  out  on  a  ridge  from  which  we  could 
look  down.  "  You  always  want  to  ride  on  high 
places  when  there's  folks  around  whose  intentions 
ain't  been  declared,"  said  the  Virginian.  And  we 
went  along  our  ridge  for  some  distance.  Then 
suddenly  he  turned  down  and  guided  us  almost  at 
once  to  the  trail.  "  That's  it,"  he  said.  "  See." 

The  track  of  a  horse  was  very  fresh  on  the 
trail.  But  it  was  a  galloping  horse  now,  and  no 
bootprints  were  keeping  up  with  it  any  more. 
No  boots  could  have  kept  up  with  it.  The  rider 
was  making  time  to-day.  Yesterday  that  horse 
had  been  ridden  up  into  the  mountains  at  leisure. 
Who  was  on  him  ?  There  was  never  to  be  any 
certain  answer  to  that.  But  who  was  not  on  him  ? 
We  turned  back  in  our  journey,  back  into  the 
heart  of  that  basin  with  the  tall  peaks  all  rising 
like  teeth  in  the  cloudless  sun,  and  the  snow-fields 
shining  white. 

"  He  was  afraid  of  us,"  said  the  Virginian. 
"  He  did  not  know  how  many  of  us  had  come  up 
here.  Three  hawsses  might  mean  a  dozen  more 
around." 


420  THE  VIRGINIAN 

We  followed  the  backward  trail  in  among  the 
pines,  and  came  after  a  time  upon  their  camp. 
And  then  I  understood  the  mistake  that  Shorty 
had  made.  He  had  returned  after  his  failure,  and 
had  told  that  other  man  of  the  presence  of  new 
horses.  He  should  have  kept  this  a  secret ;  for 
haste  had  to  be  made  at  once,  and  two  cannot  get 
away  quickly  upon  one  horse.  But  it  was  poor 
Shorty's  last  blunder.  He  lay  there  by  their  ex 
tinct  fire,  with  his  wistful,  lost-dog  face  upward, 
and  his  thick  yellow  hair  unparted  as  it  had  al 
ways  been.  The  murder  had  been  done  from 
behind.  We  closed  the  eyes. 

"  There  was  no  natural  harm  in  him,"  said  the 
Virginian.  "  But  you  must  do  a  thing  well  in 
this  country." 

There  was  not  a  trace,  not  a  clew,  of  the  other 
man ;  and  we  found  a  place  where  we  could  soon 
cover  Shorty  with  earth.  As  we  lifted  him  we 
saw  the  newspaper  that  he  had  been  reading.  He 
had  brought  it  from  the  clump  of  cottonwoods 
where  he  and  the  other  man  had  made  a  later 
visit  than  ours  to  be  sure  of  the  fate  of  their 
friends  —  or  possibly  in  hopes  of  another  horse. 
Evidently,  when  the  party  were  surprised,  they  had 
been  able  to  escape  with  only  one.  All  of  the 
newspaper  was  there  save  the  leaf  I  had  picked 
up  —  all  and  more,  for  this  had  pencil  writing  on 
it  that  was  not  mine,  nor  did  I  at  first  take  it  in. 
I  thought  it  might  be  a  clew,  and  I  read  it  aloud. 
"  Good-by,  Jeff,"  it  said.  "  I  could  not  have  spoke 
to  you  without  playing  the  baby." 

"  Who's  Jeff  ? "  I  asked.  But  it  came  over  me 
when  I  looked  at  the  Virginian.  He  was  stand- 


I 


I  wish  I  could  thank  him,'  he  said,  '  1  wish  I  could.'  " 


SUPERSTITION   TRAIL  421 

ing  beside  me  quite  motionless ;  and  then  he  put 
out  his  hand  and  took  the  paper,  and  stood  still, 
looking  at  the  words.  "  Steve  used  to  call  me 
Jeff,"  he  said,  "  because  I  was  Southern,  I  reckon. 
Nobody  else  ever  did." 

He  slowly  folded  the  message  from  the  dead, 
brought  by  the  dead,  and  rolled  it  in  the  coat 
behind  his  saddle.  For  a  half-minute  he  stood 
leaning  his  forehead  down  against  the  saddle. 
After  this  he  came  back  and  contemplated  Shorty's 
face  awhile.  "  I  wish  I  could  thank  him,"  he 
said.  "  I  wish  I  could." 

We  carried  Shorty  over  and  covered  him  with 
earth,  and  on  that  laid  a  few  pine  branches ;  then 
we  took  up  our  journey,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
forenoon  we  had  gone  some  distance  upon  our 
trail  through  the  Teton  Mountains.  But  in  front 
of  us  the  hoofprints  ever  held  their  stride  of  haste, 
drawing  farther  from  us  through  the  hours,  until 
by  the  next  afternoon  somewhere  we  noticed  they 
were  no  longer  to  be  seen ;  and  after  that  they 
never  came  upon  the  trail  again. 


XXXIII 

THE    SPINSTER    LOSES    SOME    SLEEP 

SOMEWHERE  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Tetons 
did  those  hoofprints  disappear  into  a  mountain 
sanctuary  where  many  crooked  paths  have  led. 
He  that  took  another  man's  possessions,  or  he 
that  took  another  man's  life,  could  always  run 
here  if  the  law  or  popular  justice  were  too  hot  at 
his  heels.  Steep  ranges  and  forests  walled  him 
in  from  the  world  on  all  four  sides,  almost  with 
out  a  break;  and  every  entrance  lay  through 
intricate  solitudes.  Snake  River  came  into  the 
place  through  canons  and  mournful  pines  and 
marshes,  to  the  north,  and  went  out  at  the  south 
between  formidable  chasms.  Every  tributary  to 
this  stream  rose  among  high  peaks  and  ridges, 
and  descended  into  the  valley  by  well-nigh  im 
penetrable  courses :  Pacific  Creek  from  Two 
Ocean  Pass,  Buffalo  Fork  from  no  pass  at  all, 
Black  Rock  from  the  To-wo-ge-tee  Pass  —  all 
these,  and  many  more,  were  the  waters  of  lone 
liness,  among  whose  thousand  hiding-places  it 
was  easy  to  be  lost.  Down  in  the  bottom  was  a 
spread  of  level  land,  broad  and  beautiful,  with  the 
blue  and  silver  Tetons  rising  from  its  chain  of 
lakes  to  the  west,  and  other  heights  presiding 
over  its  other  sides.  And  up  and  down  and  in 
and  out  of  this  hollow  square  of  mountains,  where 

422 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          423 

waters  plentifully  flowed,  and  game  and  natural 
pasture  abounded,  there  skulked  a  nomadic  and 
distrustful  population.  This  in  due  time  built 
cabins,  took  wives,  begot  children,  and  came  to 
speak  of  itself  as  "The  honest  settlers  of  Jack 
son's  Hole."  It  is  a  commodious  title,  and 
doubtless  to-day  more  accurate  than  it  was  once. 

Into  this  place  the  hoofprints  disappeared. 
Not  many  cabins  were  yet  built  there ;  but  the 
unknown  rider  of  the  horse  knew  well  that  he 
would  find  shelter  and  welcome  among  the  felons 
of  his  stripe.  Law  and  order  might  guess  his 
name  correctly,  but  there  was  no  next  step,  for 
lack  of  evidence ;  and  he  would  wait,  whoever  he 
was,  until  the  rage  of  popular  justice,  which  had 
been  pursuing  him  and  his  brother  thieves,  should 
subside.  Then,  feeling  his  way  gradually  with 
prudence,  he  would  let  himself  be  seen  again. 

And  now,  as  mysteriously  as  he  had  melted 
away,  rumor  passed  over  the  country.  No  tongue 
seemed  to  be  heard  telling  the  first  news ;  the 
news  was  there,  one  day,  a  matter  of  whispered 
knowledge.  On  Sunk  Creek  and  on  Bear  Creek, 
and  elsewhere  far  and  wide,  before  men  talked 
men  seemed  secretly  to  know  that  Steve,  and  Ed, 
and  Shorty,  would  never  again  be  seen.  Riders 
met  each  other  in  the  road  and  drew  rein  to  dis 
cuss  the  event,  and  its  bearing  upon  the  cattle 
interests.  In  town  saloons  men  took  each  other 
aside,  and  muttered  over  it  in  corners. 

Thus  it  reached  the  ears  of  Molly  Wood,  begin 
ning  in  a  veiled  and  harmless  shape. 

A  neighbor  joined  her  when  she  was  out  riding 
by  herself. 


424  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Good  morning,"  said  he.  "  Don't  you  find  it 
lonesome?"  And  when  she  answered  lightly, 
he  continued,  meaning  well :  "  You'll  be  having 
company  again  soon  now.  He  has  finished  his 
job.  Wish  he'd  finished  it  more!  Well,  good 
day." 

Molly  thought  these  words  over.  She  could 
not  tell  why  they  gave  her  a  strange  feeling.  To 
her  Vermont  mind  no  suspicion  of  the  truth  would 
corns  naturally.  Bat  suspicion  began  to  come 
when  she  returned  from  her  ride.  For,  entering 
the  cabin  of  the  Taylors',  she  came  upon  several 
people  who  all  dropped  their  talk  short,  and  were 
not  skilful  at  resuming  it.  She  sat  there  awhile, 
uneasily  aware  that  all  of  them  knew  something 
which  she  did  not  know,  and  was  not  intended  to 
know.  A  thought  pierced  her:  had  anything  hap 
pened  to  her  lover?  No;  that  was  not  it.  The 
man  she  had  met  on  horseback  spoke  of  her  hav 
ing  company  soon  again.  How  soon  ?  she  won 
dered.  He  had  been  unable  to  say  when  he 
should  return,  and  now  she  suddenly  felt  that  a 
great  silence  had  enveloped  him  lately:  not  the 
mere  silence  of  absence,  of  receiving  no  messages 
or  letters,  but  another  sort  of  silence  which  now, 
at  this  moment,  was  weighing  strangely  upon  her. 

And  then  the  next  day  it  came  out  at  the 
schoolhouse.  During  that  interval  known  as 
recess,  she  became  aware  through  the  open  win 
dow  that  they  were  playing  a  new  game  outside. 
Lusty  screeches  of  delight  reached  her  ears. 

"  Jump  !  "  a  voice  ordered.     "  Jump  !  " 

"  I  don't  want  to,"  returned  another  voice,  un 
easily. 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          425 

"  You  said  you  would,"  said  several.  "  Didn't 
he  say  he  would  ?  Ah,  he  said  he  would.  Jump 
now,  quick ! " 

"  But  I  don't  want  to,"  quavered  the  voice  in  a 
tone  so  dismal  that  Molly  went  out  to  see. 

They  had  got  Bob  Carmody  on  the  top  of  the 
gate  by  a  tree,  with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  the 
other  end  of  which  four  little  boys  were  joyously 
holding.  The  rest  looked  on  eagerly,  three  little 
girls  clasping  their  hands,  and  springing  up  and 
down  with  excitement. 

"  Why,  children !  "  exclaimed  Molly. 

"  He's  said  his  prayers  and  everything,"  they 
all  screamed  out.  "  He's  a  rustler,  and  we're 
lynchin'  him.  Jump,  Bob !  " 

"  I  don't  want  — " 

"  Ah,  coward,  won't  take  his  medicine !  " 

"  Let  him  go,  boys,"  said  Molly.  "  You  might 
really  hurt  him."  And  so  she  broke  up  this  game, 
but  not  without  general  protest  from  Wyoming's 
young  voice. 

"  He  said  he  would,"  Henry  Dow  assured  her. 

And  George  Taylor  further  explained :  "  He 
said  he'd  be  Steve.  But  Steve  didn't  scare." 
Then  George  proceeded  to  tell  the  schoolmafm, 
eagerly,  all  about  Steve  and  Ed,  while  the  school- 
marm  looked  at  him  with  a  rigid  face. 

"  You  promised  your  mother  you'd  not  tell," 
said  Henry  Dow,  after  all  had  been  told.  "  You've 
gone  and  done  it,"  and  Henry  wagged  his  head 
in  a  superior  manner. 

Thus  did  the  New  England  girl  learn  what 
her  cow-boy  lover  had  done.  She  spoke  of  it 
to  nobody;  she  kept  her  misery  to  herself.  He 


426  THE   VIRGINIAN 

was  not  there  to  defend  his  act.  Perhaps  in  a 
way  that  was  better.  But  these  were  hours  of 
darkness  indeed  to  Molly  Wood. 

On  that  visit  to  Dunbarton,  when  at  the  first 
sight  of  her  lover's  photograph  in  frontier  dress 
her  aunt  had  exclaimed,  "  I  suppose  there  are 
days  when  he  does  not  kill  people,"  she  had  cried 
in  all  good  faith  and  mirth,  "  He  never  killed  any 
body  ! "  Later,  when  he  was  lying  in  her  cabin 
weak  from  his  bullet  wound,  but  each  day  stronger 
beneath  her  nursing,  at  a  certain  word  of  his  there 
had  gone  through  her  a  shudder  of  doubt.  Per 
haps  in  his  many  wanderings  he  had  done  such  a 
thing  in  self-defence,  or  in  the  cause  of  popular 
justice.  But  she  had  pushed  the  idea  away  from 
her  hastily,  back  into  the  days  before  she  had 
ever  seen  him.  If  this  had  ever  happened,  let 
her  not  know  of  it.  Then,  as  a  cruel  reward  for 
his  candor  and  his  laying  himself  bare  to  her 
mother,  the  letters  from  Bennington  had  used 
that  very  letter  of  his  as  a  weapon  against  him. 
Her  sister  Sarah  had  quoted  from  it.  "  He  says 
with  apparent  pride,"  wrote  Sarah,  "  that  he  has 
'never  killed  for  pleasure  or  profit.'  Those  are 
his  exact  words,  and  you  may  guess  their  dreadful 
effect  upon  mother.  I  congratulate  you,  my  dear, 
on  having  chosen  a  protector  so  scrupulous." 

Thus  her  elder  sister  had  seen  fit  to  write ;  and 
letters  from  less  near  relatives  made  hints  at  the 
same  subject.  So  she  was  compelled  to  accept 
this  piece  of  knowledge  thrust  upon  her.  Yet 
still,  still,  those  events  had  been  before  she  knew 
him.  They  were  remote,  without  detail  or  con 
text.  He  had  been  little  more  than  a  boy.  No 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          427 

doubt  it  was  to  save  his  own  life.  And  so  she 
bore  the  hurt  of  her  discovery  all  the  more  easily 
because  her  sister's  tone  roused  her  to  defend  her 
cow-boy. 

But  now! 

In  her  cabin,  alone,  after  midnight,  she  arose 
from  her  sleepless  bed,  and  lighting  the  candle, 
stood  before  his  photograph. 

"  It  is  a  good  face,"  her  great-aunt  had  said, 
'after  some  study  of  it.  And  these  words  were  in 
her  mind  now.  There  his  likeness  stood  at  full 
length,  confronting  her:  the  spurs  on  the  boots, 
the  fringed  leathern  chaparreros,  the  coiled  rope 
in  hand,  the  pistol  at  hip,  the  rough  flannel  shirt, 
and  the  scarf  knotted  at  the  throat  —  and  then 
the  grave  eyes,  looking  at  her.  It  thrilled  her  to 
meet  them,  even  so.  She  could  read  life  into 
them.  She  seemed  to  feel  passion  come  from 
them,  and  then  something  like  reproach.  She 
stood  for  a  long  while  looking  at  him,  and  then, 
beating  her  hands  together  suddenly,  she  blew 
out  her  light  and  went  back  into  bed,  but  not  to 
sleep. 

"  You're  looking  pale,  deary,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor 
to  her,  a  few  days  later. 

" Am  I  ? " 

"  And  you  don't  eat  anything." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  do."  And  Molly  retired  to  her 
cabin. 

"  George,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor,  "  you  come  here." 

It  may  seem  severe  —  I  think  that  it  was  severe. 
That  evening  when  Mr.  Taylor  came  home  to 
his  family,  George  received  a  thrashing  for  dis 
obedience. 


428  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  And  I  suppose,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor  to  her  hus 
band,  "  that  she  came  out  just  in  time  to  stop  'em 
breaking  Bob  Carmody's  neck  for  him." 

Upon  the  day  following  Mrs.  Taylor  essayed 
the  impossible.  She  took  herself  over  to  Molly 
Wood's  cabin.  The  girl  gave  her  a  listless  greet 
ing,  and  the  dame  sat  slowly  down,  and  surveyed 
the  comfortable  room. 

"  A  very  nice  home,  deary,"  said  she,  "  if  it  was 
a  home.  But  you'll  fix  something  like  this  in 
your  real  home,  I  have  no  doubt." 

Molly  made  no  answer. 

"  What  we're  going  to  do  without  you  I  can't 
see,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor.  "  But  I'd  not  have  it  dif 
ferent  for  worlds.  He'll  be  coming  back  soon,  I 
expect." 

"  Mrs.  Taylor,"  said  Molly,  all  at  once,  "  please 
don't  say  anything  now.  I  can't  stand  it"  And 
she  broke  into  wretched  tears. 

"Why,  deary,  he  —  " 

"  No;  not  a  word.  Please,  please — I'll  go  out 
if  you  do." 

The  older  woman  went  to  the  younger  one,  and 
then  put  her  arms  round  her.  But  when  the  tears 
were  over,  they  had  not  done  any  good  ;  it  was 
not  the  storm  that  clears  the  sky  —  all  storms  do 
not  clear  the  sky.  And  Mrs.  Taylor  looked  at 
the  pale  girl  and  saw  that  she  could  do  nothing 
to  help  her  toward  peace  of  mind. 

"  Of  course,"  she  said  to  her  husband,  after  re 
turning  from  her  profitless  errand,  "you  might 
know  she'd  feel  dreadful." 

"  What  about  ?  "  said  Taylor. 

"  Why,  you  know  just  as  well  as  I  do.     And  I'll 


THE   SPINSTER  LOSES  SOME   SLEEP         429 

say  for  myself,  I  hope  you'll  never  have  to  help 
hang  folks." 

"  Well,"  said  Taylor,  mildly,  "  if  I  had  to,  I'd  have 
to,  I  guess." 

"  Well,  I  don't  want  it  to  come.  But  that  poor 
girl  is  eating  her  heart  right  out  over  it." 

"  What  does  she  say  ?  " 

"  It's  what  she  don't  say.  She'll  not  talk,  and 
she'll  not  let  me  talk,  and  she  sits  and  sits." 

"  I'll  go  talk  some  to  her,"  said  the  man. 

"  Well,  Taylor,  I  thought  you  had  more  sense. 
You'd  not  get  a  word  in.  She'll  be  sick  soon  if 
her  worry  ain't  stopped  someway,  though." 

"  What  does  she  want  this  country  to  do  ? "  in 
quired  Taylor.  "  Does  she  expect  it  to  be  like 
Vermont  when  it  —  " 

"  We  can't  help  what  she  expects,"  his  wife  in 
terrupted.  "  But  I  wish  we  could  help  her? 

They  could  not,  however ;  and  help  came  from 
another  source.  Judge  Henry  rode  by  the  next 
day.  To  him  good  Mrs.  Taylor  at  once  confided 
her  anxiety.  The  Judge  looked  grave. 

"  Must  I  meddle  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Yes,  Judge,  you  must,"  said  Mrs.  Taylor. 

"  But  why  can't  I  send  him  over  here  when  he 
gets  back?  Then  they'll  just  settle  it  between 
themselves." 

Mrs.  Taylor  shook  her  head.  "  That  would 
unsettle  it  worse  than  it  is,"  she  assured  him. 
"  They  mustn't  meet  just  now." 

The  Judge  sighed.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  very  well. 
I'll  sacrifice  my  character,  since  you  insist." 

Judge  Henry  sat  thinking,  waiting  until  school 
should  be  out.  He  did  not  at  all  relish  what  lay 


430  THE   VIRGINIAN 

before  him.  He  would  like  to  have  got  out  of  it. 
He  had  been  a  federal  judge ;  he  had  been  an 
upright  judge ;  he  had  met  the  responsibilities  of 
his  difficult  office  not  only  with  learning,  which  is 
desirable,  but  also  with  courage  and  common  sense 
besides,  and  these  are  essential.  He  had  been 
a  stanch  servant  of  the  law.  And  now  he  was 
invited  to  defend  that  which,  at  first  sight,  nay, 
even  at  second  and  third  sight,  must  always  seem 
a  defiance  of  the  law  more  injurious  than  crime 
itself.  Every  good  man  in  this  world  has  convic 
tions  about  right  and  wrong.  They  are  his  soul's 
riches,  his  spiritual  gold.  When  his  conduct  is 
at  variance  with  these,  he  knows  that  it  is  a  de 
parture,  a  falling ;  and  this  is  a  simple  and  clear 
matter.  If  falling  were  all  that  ever  happened  to 
a  good  man,  all  his  days  would  be  a  simple  matter 
of  striving  and  repentance.  But  it  is  not  all. 
There  come  to  him  certain  junctures,  crises,  when 
life,  like  a  highwayman,  springs  upon  him,  de 
manding  that  he  stand  and  deliver  his  convictions 
in  the  name  of  some  righteous  cause,  bidding  him 
do  evil  that  good  may  come.  I  cannot  say  that  I 
believe  in  doing  evil  that  good  may  come.  I  do 
not.  I  think  that  any  man  who  honestly  justifies 
such  course  deceives  himself.  But  this  I  can  say: 
to  call  any  act  evil,  instantly  begs  the  question. 
Many  an  act  that  man  does  is  right  or  wrong  ac 
cording  to  the  time  and  place  which  form,  so  to 
speak,  its  context ;  strip  it  of  its  surrounding  cir 
cumstances,  and  you  tear  away  its  meaning. 
Gentlemen  reformers,  beware  of  this  common  prac 
tice  of  yours  !  beware  of  calling  an  act  evil  on  Tues 
day  because  that  same  act  was  evil  on  Monday ! 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          431 

Do  you  fail  to  follow  my  meaning  ?  Then  here 
is  an  illustration.  On  Monday  I  walk  over  my 
neighbor's  field ;  there  is  no  wrong  in  such  walk 
ing.  By  Tuesday  he  has  put  up  a  sign  that  tres 
passers  will  be  prosecuted  according  to  law.  I 
walk  again  on  Tuesday,  and  am  a  law-breaker. 
Do  you  begin  to  see  my  point?  or  are  you  in 
clined  to  object  to  the  illustration  because  the 
walking  on  Tuesday  was  not  wrong,  but  merely 
illegal?  Then  here  is  another  illustration  which 
you  will  find  it  a  trifle  more  embarrassing  to  an 
swer.  Consider  carefully,  let  me  beg  you,  the 
case  of  a  young  man  and  a  young  woman  who 
walk  out  of  a  door  on  Tuesday,  pronounced  man 
and  wife  by  a  third  party  inside  the  door.  It 
matters  not  that  on  Monday  they  were,  in  their 
own  hearts,  sacredly  vowed  to  each  other.  If 
they  had  omitted  stepping  inside  that  door,  if  they 
had  dispensed  with  that  third  party,  and  gone 
away  on  Monday  sacredly  vowed  to  each  other 
in  their  own  hearts,  you  would  have  scarcely 
found  their  conduct  moral.  Consider  these 
things  carefully,  —  the  sign-post  and  the  third 
party,  —  and  the  difference  they  make.  And  now, 
for  a  finish,  we  will  return  to  the  sign -post. 

Suppose  that  I  went  over  my  neighbor's  field 
on  Tuesday,  after  the  sign-post  was  put  up,  be 
cause  I  saw  a  murder  about  to  be  committed  in 
the  field,  and  therefore  ran  in  and  stopped  it. 
Was  I  doing  evil  that  good  might  come?  Do 
you  not  think  that  to  stay  out  and  let  the  murder 
be  done  would  have  been  the  evil  act  in  this 
case?  To  disobey  the  sign-post  was  right ;  and 
I  trust  that  you  now  perceive  the  same  act  may 


432  THE  VIRGINIAN 

wear  as  many  different  hues  of  right  or  wrong 
as  the  rainbow,  according  to  the  atmosphere  in 
which  it  is  done.  It  is  not  safe  to  say  of  any 
man,  "  He  did  evil  that  good  might  come."  Was 
the  thing  that  he  did,  in  the  first  place,  evil  ? 
That  is  the  question. 

Forgive  my  asking  you  to  use  your  mind.  It 
is  a  thing  which  no  novelist  should  expect  of 
his  reader,  and  we  will  go  back  at  once  to  Judge 
Henry  and  his  meditations  about  lynching. 

He  was  well  aware  that  if  he  was  to  touch  at 
all  upon  this  subject  with  the  New  England  girl, 
he  could  not  put  her  off  with  mere  platitudes 
and  humdrum  formulas ;  not,  at  least,  if  he  ex 
pected  to  do  any  good.  She  was  far  too  intelli 
gent,  and  he  was  really  anxious  to  do  good.  For 
her  sake  he  wanted  the  course  of  the  girl's  true 
love  to  run  more  smoothly,  and  still  more  did  he 
desire  this  for  the  sake  of  his  Virginian. 

"  I  sent  him  myself  on  that  business,"  the  Judge 
reflected  uncomfortably.  "  I  am  partly  responsi 
ble  for  the  lynching.  It  has  brought  him  one 
great  unhappiness  already  through  the  death  of 
Steve.  If  it  gets  running  in  this  girl's  mind,  she 
may  —  dear  me!"  the  Judge  broke  off,  "what  a 
nuisance  !  "  And  he  sighed.  For  as  all  men 
know,  he  also  knew  that  many  things  should  be 
done  in  this  world  in  silence,  and  that  talking 
about  them  is  a  mistake. 

But  when  school  was  out,  and  the  girl  gone  to 
her  cabin,  his  mind  had  set  the  subject  in  order 
thoroughly,  and  he  knocked  at  her  door,  ready, 
as  he  had  put  it,  to  sacrifice  his  character  in  the 
cause  of  true  love. 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          433 

"  Well,"  he  said,  coming  straight  to  the  point, 
"some  dark  things  have  happened."  And  when 
she  made  no  answer  to  this,  he  continued :  "  But 
you  must  not  misunderstand  us.  We're  too  fond 
of  you  for  that." 

"  Judge  Henry,"  said  Molly  Wood,  also  coming 
straight  to  the  point,  "  have  you  come  to  tell  me 
that  you  think  well  of  lynching  ? " 

He  met  her.  "  Of  burning  Southern  negroes 
in  public,  no.  Of.  hanging  Wyoming  cattle- 
thieves  in  private,  yes.  You  perceive  there's  a 
difference,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Not  in  principle,"  said  the  girl,  dry  and 
short. 

"  Oh — dear — me  !"  slowly  exclaimed  the  Judge. 
"  I  am  sorry  that  you  cannot  see  that,  because  I 
think  that  I  can.  And  I  think  that  you  have  just 
as  much  sense  as  I  have."  The  Judge  made  him 
self  very  grave  and  very  good-humored  at  the 
same  time.  The  poor  girl  was  strung  to  a  high 
pitch,  and  spoke  harshly  in  spite  of  herself. 

"  What  is  the  difference  in  principle  ? "  she 
demanded. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Judge,  easy  and  thoughtful, 
"  what  do  you  mean  by  principle  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  think  you'd  quibble,"  flashed  Molly. 
"  I'm  not  a  lawyer  myself." 

A  man  less  wise  than  Judge  Henry  would  have 
smiled  at  this,  and  then  war  would  have  exploded 
hopelessly  between  them,  and  harm  been  added  to 
what  was  going  wrong  already.  But  the  Judge 
knew  that  he  must  give  to  every  word  that  the 
girl  said  now  his  perfect  consideration. 

"  I  don't  mean  to  quibble,"  he  assured  her.     "  I 


2F 


434  THE   VIRGINIAN 

know  the  trick  of  escaping  from  one  question  by 
asking  another.  But  I  don't  want  to  escape  from 
anything  you  hold  me  to  answer.  If  you  can 
show  me  that  I  am  wrong,  I  want  you  to  do  so. 
But,"  and  here  the  Judge  smiled,  "  I  want  you  to 
play  fair,  too." 

"  And  how  am  I  not  ?  " 

"  I  want  you  to  be  just  as  willing  to  be  put  right 
by  me  as  I  am  to  be  put  right  by  you.  And  so 
when  you  use  such  a  word  as  principle,  you  must 
help  me  to  answer  by  saying  what  principle  you 
mean.  For  in  all  sincerity  I  see  no  likeness  in 
principle  whatever  between  burning  Southern 
negroes  in  public  and  hanging  Wyoming  horse- 
thieves  in  private.  I  consider  the  burning  a  proof 
that  the  South  is  semi-barbarous,  and  the  hanging 
a  proof  that  Wyoming  is  determined  to  become 
civilized.  We  do  not  torture  our  criminals  when 
we  lynch  them.  We  do  not  invite  spectators  to 
enjoy  their  death  agony.  We  put  no  such  hideous 
disgrace  upon  the  United  States.  We  execute 
our  criminals  by  the  swiftest  means,  and  in  the 
quietest  way.  Do  you  think  the  principle  is  the 
same  ? " 

Molly  had  listened  to  him  with  attention. 
"  The  way  is  different,"  she  admitted. 

"  Only  the  way  ?  " 

"  So  it  seems  to  me.  Both  defy  law  and 
order." 

"  Ah,  but  do  they  both  ?  Now  we're  getting 
near  the  principle." 

"  Why,  yes.  Ordinary  citizens  take  the  law  in 
their  own  hands." 

"  The  principle  at  last !  "  exclaimed  the  Judge. 


THE   SPINSTER   LOSES   SOME   SLEEP          435 

"  Now  tell  me  some  more  things.  Out  of  whose 
hands  do  they  take  the  law  ?  " 

"  The  court's." 

"  What  made  the  courts  ?  " 

"  I  don't  understand." 

"  How  did  there  come  to  be  any  courts  ?  " 

"  The  Constitution." 

"  How  did  there  come  to  be  any  Constitution  ? 
Who  made  it?" 

"  The  delegates,  I  suppose." 

"  Who  made  the  delegates  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  they  were  elected,  or  appointed,  or 
something." 

"  And  who  elected  them  ?  " 

"  Of  course  the  people  elected  them." 

"  Call  them  the  ordinary  citizens,"  said  the 
Judge.  "  I  like  your  term.  They  are  where  the 
law  comes  from,  you  see.  For  they  chose  the  dele 
gates  who  made  the  Constitution  that  provided 
for  the  courts.  There's  your  machinery.  These 
are  the  hands  into  which  ordinary  citizens  have 
put  the  law.  So  you  see,  at  best,  when  they  lynch 
they  only  take  back  what  they  once  gave.  Now 
we'll  take  your  two  cases  that  you  say  are  the 
same  in  principle.  I  think  that  they  are  not.  For 
in  the  South  they  take  a  negro  from  jail  where  he 
was  waiting  to  be  duly  hung.  The  South  has 
never  claimed  that  the  law  would  let  him  go. 
But  in  Wyoming  the  law  has  been  letting  our 
cattle-thieves  go  for  two  years.  We  are  in  a  very 
bad  way,  and  we  are  trying  to  make  that  way  a 
little  better  until  civilization  can  reach  us.  At 
present  we  lie  beyond  its  pale.  The  courts,  or 
rather  the  juries,  into  whose  hands  we  have  put 


436  THE   VIRGINIAN 

the  law,  are  not  dealing  the  law.  They  are  withered 
hands,  or  rather  they  are  imitation  hands  made  for 
show,  with  no  life  in  them,  no  grip.  They  cannot 
hold  a  cattle-thief.  And  so  when  your  ordinary 
citizen  sees  this,  and  sees  that  he  has  placed  justice 
in  a  dead  hand,  he  must  take  justice  back  into  his 
own  hands  where  it  was  once  at  the  beginning  of 
all  things.  Call  this  primitive,  if  you  will.  But 
so  far  from  being  a  defiance  of  the  law,  it  is  an 
assertion  of  it  —  the  fundamental  assertion  of  self- 
governing  men,  upon  whom  our  whole  social  fab 
ric  is  based.  There  is  your  principle,  Miss  Wood, 
as  I  see  it.  Now  can  you  help  me  to  see  anything 
different  ? " 

She  could  not. 

"  But  perhaps  you  are  of  the  same  opinion 
still  ?  "  the  Judge  inquired. 

"  It  is  all  terrible  to  me,"  she  said. 

"  Yes ;  and  so  is  capital  punishment  terrible. 
And  so  is  war.  And  perhaps  some  day  we  shall 
do  without  them.  But  they  are  none  of  them  so 
terrible  as  unchecked  theft  and  murder  would  be." 

After  the  Judge  had  departed  on  his  way  to 
Sunk  Creek,  no  one  spoke  to  Molly  upon  this  sub 
ject.  But  her  face  did  not  grow  cheerful  at  once. 
It  was  plain  from  her  fits  of  silence  that  her 
thoughts  were  not  at  rest.  And  sometimes  at 
night  she  would  stand  in  front  of  her  lover's  like 
ness,  gazing  upon  it  with  both  love  and  shrinking. 


* 
XXXIV 

"TO  FIT  HER  FINGER" 

IT  was  two  rings  that  the  Virginian  wrote  for 
when  next  I  heard  from  him. 

After  my  dark  sight  of  what  the  Cattle  Land 
could  be,  I  soon  had  journeyed  home  by  way  of 
Washakie  and  Rawlins.  Steve  and  Shorty  did 
not  leave  my  memory,  nor  will  they  ever,  I  sup 
pose. 

The  Virginian  had  touched  the  whole  thing 
the  day  I  left  him.  He  had  noticed  me  looking 
a  sort  of  farewell  at  the  plains  and  mountains. 

"  You  will  come  back  to  it,"  he  said.  "  If  there 
was  a  headstone  for  every  man  that  once  pleasured 
in  his  freedom  here,  yu'd  see  one  most  every 
time  yu'  turned  your  head.  It's  a  heap  sadder 
than  a  graveyard  —  but'  yu'  love  it  all  the  same." 

Sadness  had  passed  from  him  —  from  his  upper 
most  mood,  at  least,  when  he  wrote  about  the 
rings.  Deep  in  him  was  sadness  of  course,  as 
well  as  joy.  For  he  had  known  Steve,  and  he 
had  covered  Shorty  with  earth.  He  had  looked 
upon  life  with  a  man's  eyes,  very  close ;  and  no 
one,  if  he  have  a  heart,  can  pass  through  this  and 
not  carry  sadness  in  his  spirit  with  him  forever. 
But  he  seldom  shows  it  openly ;  it  bides  within 
him,  enriching  his  cheerfulness  and  rendering  him 
of  better  service  to  his  fellow-men. 

437 


438  THE   VIRGINIAN 

It  was  a  commission  of  cheerfulness  that  he  now 
gave,  being  distant  from  where  rings  are  to  be 
bought.  He  could  not  go  so  far  as  the  East  to 
procure  what  he  had  planned.  Rings  were  to  be 
had  in  Cheyenne,  and  a  still  greater  choice  in  Den 
ver  ;  and  so  far  as  either  of  these  towns  his  affairs 
would  have  permitted  him  to  travel.  But  he  was 
set  upon  having  rings  from  the  East.  They  must 
come  from  the  best  place  in  the  country ;  nothing 
short  of  that  was  good  enough  "  to  fit  her  finger," 
as  he  said.  The  wedding  ring  was  a  simple  mat 
ter.  Let  it  be  right,  that  was  all :  the  purest  gold 
that  could  be  used,  with  her  initials  and  his  together 
graven  round  the  inside,  with  the  day  of  the  month 
and  the  year. 

The  date  was  now  set.  It  had  come  so  far  as 
this.  July  third  was  to  be  the  day.  Then  for 
sixty  days  and  nights  he  was  to  be  a  bridegroom, 
free  from  his  duties  at  Sunk  Creek,  free  to  take 
his  bride  wheresoever  she  might  choose  to  go. 
And  she  had  chosen. 

Those  voices  of  the  world  had  more  than  an 
gered  her ;  for  after  the  anger  a  set  purpose  was 
left.  Her  sister  should  have  the  chance  neither 
to  come  nor  to  stay  away.  Had  her  mother  even 
answered  the  Virginian's  letter,  there  could  have 
been  some  relenting.  But  the  poor  lady  had  been 
inadequate  in  this,  as  in  all  other  searching  mo 
ments  of  her  life :  she  had  sent  messages,  —  kind 
ones,  to  be  sure,  —  but  only  messages.  If  this  had 
hurt  the  Virginian,  no  one  knew  it  in  the  world, 
least  of  all  the  girl  in  whose  heart  it  had  left  a 
cold,  frozen  spot.  Not  a  good  spirit  in  which  to 
be  married,  you  will  say.  No ;  frozen  spots  are 


"TO   FIT   HER   FINGER"  439 

not  good  at  any  time.  But  Molly's  own  nature 
gave  her  due  punishment.  Through  all  these 
days  of  her  warm  happiness  a  chill  current  ran, 
like  those  which  interrupt  the  swimmer's  perfect 
joy.  The  girl  was  only  half  as  happy  as  her  lover ; 
but  she  hid  this  deep  from  him,  —  hid  it  until  that 
final,  fierce  hour  of  reckoning  that  her  nature  had 
with  her,  —  nay,  was  bound  to  have  with  her,  be 
fore  the  punishment  was  lifted,  and  the  frozen  spot 
melted  at  length  from  her  heart. 

So,  meanwhile,  she  made  her  decree  against 
Bennington.  Not  Vermont,  but  Wyoming,  should 
be  her  wedding  place.  No  world's  voices  should 
be  whispering,  no  world's  eyes  should  be  looking 
on,  when  she  made  her  vow  to  him  and  received 
his  vow.  Those  vows  should  be  spoken  and  that 
ring  put  on  in  this  wild  Cattle  Land,  where  first 
she  had  seen  him  ride  into  the  flooded  river,  and  lift 
her  ashore  upon  his  horse.  It  was  this  open  sky 
which  should  shine  down  on  them,  and  this  frontier 
soil  upon  which  their  feet  should  tread.  The  world 
should  take  its  turn  second. 

After  a  month  with  him  by  stream  and  canon, 
a  month  far  deeper  into  the  mountain  wilds  than 
ever  yet  he  had  been  free  to  take  her,  a  month 
with  sometimes  a  tent  and  sometimes  the  stars 
above  them,  and  only  their  horses  besides  them 
selves —  after  such  a  month  as  this,  she  would 
take  him  to  her  mother  and  to  Bennington ;  and 
the  old  aunt  over  at  Dunbarton  would  look  at  him, 
and  be  once  more  able  to  declare  that  the  Starks 
had  always  preferred  a  man  who  was  a  man. 

And  so  July  third  was  to  be  engraved  inside 
the  wedding  ring.  Upon  the  other  ring  the  Vir- 


440  THE   VIRGINIAN 

ginian  had  spent  much  delicious  meditation,  all 
in  his  secret  mind.  He  had  even  got  the  right 
measure  of  her  ringer  without  her  suspecting  the 
reason.  But  this  step  was  the  final  one  in  his  plan. 

During  the  time  that  his  thoughts  had  begun 
to  be  busy  over  the  other  ring,  by  a  chance  he 
had  learned  from  Mrs.  Henry  a  number  of  old 
fancies  regarding  precious  stones.  Mrs.  Henry 
often  accompanied  the  Judge  in  venturesome 
mountain  climbs,  and  sometimes  the  steepness 
of  the  rocks  required  her  to  use  her  hands  for 
safety.  One  day  when  the  Virginian  went  with 
them  to  help  mark  out  certain  boundary  cor 
ners,  she  removed  her  rings  lest  they  should  get 
scratched ;  and  he,  being  just  behind  her,  took 
them  during  the  climb. 

"  I  see  you're  looking  at  my  topaz,"  she  had 
said,  as  he  returned  them.  "  If  I  could  have 
chosen,  it  would  have  been  a  ruby.  But  I  was 
born  in  November." 

He  did  not  understand  her  in  the  least,  but  her 
words  awakened  exceeding  interest  in  him ;  and 
they  had  descended  some  five  miles  of  mountain 
before  he  spoke  again.  Then  he  became  ingen 
ious,  for  he  had  half  worked  out  what  Mrs. 
Henry's  meaning  must  be;  but  he  must  make 
quite  sure.  Therefore,  according  to  his  wild,  shy 
nature,  he  became  ingenious. 

"  Men  wear  rings,"  he  began.  "  Some  of  the 
men  on  the  ranch  do.  I  don't  see  any  harm  in  a 
man's  wearin'  a  ring.  But  I  never  have." 

"  Well,"  said  the  lady,  not  yet  suspecting  that 
he  was  undertaking  to  circumvent  her,  "probably 
those  men  have  sweethearts." 


"TO   FIT   HER   FINGER"  441 

"  No,  ma'am.  Not  sweethearts  worth  wearin' 
rings  for  —  in  two  cases,  anyway.  They  won  'em 
at  cyards.  And  they  like  to  see  'em  shine.  I 
never  saw  a  man  wear  a  topaz." 

Mrs.  Henry  did  not  have  any  further  remark  to 
make. 

"  I  was  born  in  January  myself,"  pursued  the 
Virginian,  very  thoughtfully. 

Then  the  lady  gave  him  one  look,  and  without 
further  process  of  mind  perceived  exactly  what  he 
was  driving  at. 

"  That's  very  extravagant  for  rings,"  said  she. 
"  January  is  diamonds." 

"  Diamonds,"  murmured  the  Virginian,  more 
and  more  thoughtfully.  "  Well,  it  don't  matter, 
for  I'd  not  wear  a  ring.  And  November  is  — 
what  did  yu'  say,  ma'am  ? " 

"  Topaz." 

"  Yes.  Well,  jewels  are  cert'nly  pretty  things. 
In  the  Spanish  Missions  yu'll  see  large  ones  now 
and  again.  And  they're  not  glass,  I  think.  And 
so  they  have  got  some  jewel  that  kind  of  belongs 
to  each  month  right  around  the  twelve  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Henry,  smiling.  "  One 
for  each  month.  But  the  opal  is  what  you 
want." 

He  looked  at  her,  and  began  to  blush. 

"  October  is  the  opal,"  she  added,  and  she 
laughed  outright,  for  Miss  Wood's  birthday  was 
on  the  fifteenth  of  that  month. 

The  Virginian  smiled  guiltily  at  her  through 
his  crimson. 

"  I've  no  doubt  you  can  beat  around  the  bush 
very  well  with  men,"  said  Mrs,  Henry.  "  But  it's 


442  THE  VIRGINIAN 

perfectly  transparent  with  us  —  in  matters  of  sen 
timent,  at  least." 

"  Well,  I  am  sorry,"  he  presently  said.  "  I  don't 
want  to  give  her  an  opal.  I  have  no  superstition, 
but  I  don't  want  to  give  her  an  opal.  If  her 
mother  did,  or  anybody  like  that,  why,  all  right. 
But  not  from  me.  D'  yu'  understand,  ma'am  ?  " 

Mrs.  Henry  did  understand  this  subtle  trait  in 
the  wild  man,  and  she  rejoiced  to  be  able  to  give 
him  immediate  reassurance  concerning  opals. 

"  Don't  worry  about  that,"  she  said.  "  The  opal 
is  said  to  bring  ill  luck,  but  not  when  it  is  your  own 
month  stone.  Then  it  is  supposed  to  be  not  only 
deprived  of  evil  influence,  but  to  possess  pecul 
iarly  fortunate  power.  Let  it  be  an  opal  ring." 

Then  he  asked  her  boldly  various  questions, 
and  she  showed  him  her  rings,  and  gave  him  ad 
vice  about  the  setting.  There  was  no  special  cus 
tom,  she  told  him,  ruling  such  rings  as  this  he 
desired  to  bestow.  The  gem  might  be  the  lady's 
favorite  or  the  lover's  favorite ;  and  to  choose  the 
lady's  month  stone  was  very  well  indeed. 

Very  well  indeed,  the  Virginian  thought.  But 
not  quite  well  enough  for  him.  His  mind  now 
busied  itself  with  this  lore  concerning  jewels,  and 
soon  his  sentiment  had  suggested  something  which 
he  forthwith  carried  out. 

When  the  ring  was  achieved,  it  was  an  opal,  but 
set  with  four  small  embracing  diamonds.  Thus 
was  her  month  stone  joined  with  his,  that  their 
luck  and  their  love  might  be  inseparably  clasped. 

He  found  the  size  of  her  finger  one  day  when 
winter  had  departed,  and  the  early  grass  was  green. 
He  made  a  ring  of  twisted  grass  for  her,  while  she 


"TO   FIT   HER   FINGER"  443 

held  her  hand  for  him  to  bind  it.  He  made  an 
other  for  himself.  Then,  after  each  had  worn 
their  grass  ring  for  a  while,  he  begged  her  to  ex 
change.  He  did  not  send  his  token  away  from 
him,  but  most  carefully  measured  it.  Thus  the 
ring  fitted  her  well,  and  the  lustrous  flame  within 
the  opal  thrilled  his  heart  each  time  he  saw  it. 
For  now  June  was  near  its  end ;  and  that  other 
plain  gold  ring,  which,  for  safe  keeping,  he  cher 
ished  suspended  round  his  neck  day  and  night, 
seemed  to  burn  with  an  inward  glow  that  was 
deeper  than  the  opal's. 

So  in  due  course  arrived  the  second  of  July. 
Molly's  punishment  had  got  as  far  as  this :  she 
longed  for  her  mother  to  be  near  her  at  this  time ; 
but  it  was  too  late. 


XXXV 

WITH    MALICE    AFORETHOUGHT 

TOWN  lay  twelve  straight  miles  before  the  lover 
and  his  sweetheart,  when  they  came  to  the  brow 
of  the  last  long  hill.  All  beneath  them  was  like  a 
map :  neither  man  nor  beast  distinguishable,  but 
the  veined  and  tinted  image  of  a  country,  knobs 
and  flats  set  out  in  order  clearly,  shining  extensive 
and  motionless  in  the  sun.  It  opened  on  the  sight 
of  the  lovers  as  they  reached  the  sudden  edge  of 
the  tableland,  where  since  morning  they  had  ridden 
with  the  head  of  neither  horse  ever  in  advance  of 
the  other. 

At  the  view  of  their  journey's  end,  the  Virgin 
ian  looked  down  at  his  girl  beside  him,  his  eyes 
filled  with  a  bridegroom's  light,  and,  hanging  safe 
upon  his  breast,  he  could  feel  the  gold  ring  that 
he  would  slowly  press  upon  her  finger  to-morrow. 
He  drew  off  the  glove  from  her  left  hand,  and 
stooping,  kissed  the  jewel  in  that  other  ring  which 
he  had  given  her.  The  crimson  fire  in  the  opal 
seemed  to  mingle  with  that  in  his  heart,  and  his 
arm  lifted  her  during  a  moment  from  the  saddle 
as  he  held  her  to  him.  But  in  her  heart  the  love 
of  him  was  troubled  by  that  cold  pang  of  loneli 
ness  which  had  crept  upon  her  like  a  tide  as  the 
day  drew  near.  None  of  her  own  people  were 
waiting  in  that  distant  town  to  see  her  become 
his  bride.  Friendly  faces  she  might  pass  on  the, 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  445 

way ;  but  all  of  them  new  friends,  made  in  this 
wild  country :  not  a  face  of  her  childhood  would 
smile  upon  her ;  and  deep  within  her,  a  voice  cried 
for  the  mother  who  was  far  away  in  Vermont. 
That  she  would  see  Mrs.  Taylor's  kind  face  at 
her  wedding  was  no  comfort  now. 

There  lay  the  town  in  the  splendor  of  Wyo 
ming  space.  Around  it  spread  the  watered  fields, 
westward  for  a  little  way,  eastward  to  a  great  dis 
tance,  making  squares  of  green  and  yellow  crops ; 
and  the  town  was  but  a  poor  rag  in  the  midst  of 
this  quilted  harvest.  After  the  fields  to  the  east, 
the  tawny  plain  began ;  and  with  one  faint  furrow 
of  river  lining  its  undulations,  it  stretched  beyond 
sight.  But  west  of  the  town  rose  the  Bow  Leg 
Mountains,  cool  with  their  still  unmelted  snows 
and  their  dull  blue  gulfs  of  pine.  From  three 
canons  flowed  three  clear  forks  which  began  the 
river.  Their  confluence  was  above  the  town  a 
good  two  miles;  it  looked  but  a  few  paces  from 
up  here,  while  each  side  the  river  straggled  the 
margin  cottonwoods,  like  thin  borders  along  a 
garden  walk.  Over  all  this  map  hung  silence  like 
a  harmony,  tremendous  yet  serene. 

"  How  beautiful !  how  I  love  it !  "  whispered  the 
girl.  "  But,  oh,  how  big  it  is  !  "  And  she  leaned 
against  her  lover  for  an  instant.  It  was  her  spirit 
seeking  shelter.  To-day,  this  vast  beauty,  this 
primal  calm,  had  in  it  for  her  something  almost  of 
dread.  The  small,  comfortable,  green  hills  of  home 
rose  before  her.  She  closed  her  eyes  and  saw 
Vermont :  a  village  street,  and  the  post-offce,  and 
ivy  covering  an  old  front  door,  and  her  mother 
picking  some  yellow  roses  from  a  bush. 


446  THE   VIRGINIAN 

At  a  sound,  her  eyes  quickly  opened ;  and  here 
was  her  lover  turned  in  his  saddle,  watching  an 
other  horseman  approach.  She  saw  the  Virgin 
ian's  hand  in  a  certain  position,  and  knew  that  his 
pistol  was  ready.  But  the  other  merely  overtook 
and  passed  them,  as  they  stood  at  the  brow  of  the 
hill. 

The  man  had  given  one  nod  to  the  Virginian, 
and  the  Virginian  one  to  him ;  and  now  he  was 
already  below  them  on  the  descending  road.  To 
Molly  Wood  he  was  a  stranger ;  but  she  had  seen 
his  eyes  when  he  nodded  to  her  lover,  and  she 
knew,  even  without  the  pistol,  that  this  was  not 
enmity  at  first  sight. 

It  was  not  indeed.  Five  years  of  gathered  hate 
had  looked  out  of  the  man's  eyes.  And  she  asked 
her  lover  who  this  was. 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  easily,  "  just  a  man  I  see  now 
and  then." 

"  Is  his  name  Trampas  ? "  said  Molly  Wood. 

The  Virginian  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  "Why, 
where  have  you  seen  him  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Never  till  now.     But  I  knew." 

"  My  gracious  !  Yu'  never  told  me  yu'  had  mind- 
reading  powers."  And  he  smiled  serenely  at  her. 

"  I  knew  it  was  Trampas  as  soon  as  I  saw  his 
eyes." 

"  My  gracious  !  "  her  lover  repeated  with  indul 
gent  irony.  "  I  must  be  mighty  careful  of  my  eyes 
when  you're  lookin'  at  'em." 

"  I  believe  he  did  that  murder,"  said  the  girl. 

"  Whose  mind  are  yu'  readin'  now  ?  "  he  drawled 
affectionately. 

But  he  could  not  joke  her  off  the  subject.    She 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  447 

took  his  strong  hand  in  hers,  tremulously,  so  much 
of  it  as  her  little  hand  could  hold.  "  I  know  some 
thing  about  that  —  that  —  last  autumn,"  she  said, 
shrinking  from  words  more  definite.  "  And  I 
know  that  you  only  did  —  " 

"  What  I  had  to,"  he  finished,  very  sadly,  but 
sternly,  too. 

"  Yes,"  she  asserted,  keeping  hold  'of  his  hand. 
"  I  suppose  that  —  lynching  —  "(she  almost  whis 
pered  the  word)  "  is  the  only  way.  But  when  they 
had  to  die  just  for  stealing  horses,  it  seems  so 
wicked  that  this  murderer  — " 

"  Who  can  prove  it  ?  "  asked  the  Virginian. 

"  But  don't  you  know  it  ?  " 

"  I  know  a  heap  o'  things  inside  my  heart.  But 
that's  not  proving.  There  was  only  the  body,  and 
the  hoof  prints  —  and  what  folks  guessed." 

"  He  was  never  even  arrested  !  "  the  girl  said. 

"No.  He  helped  elect  the  sheriff  in  that 
county." 

Then  Molly  ventured  a  step  inside  the  border 
of  her  lover's  reticence.  "  I  saw  —  "  she  hesitated, 
"just  now,  I  saw  what  you  did." 

He  returned  to  his  caressing  irony.  "  You'll 
have  me  plumb  scared  if  you  keep  on  seem' 
things." 

"  You  had  your  pistol  ready  for  him." 

"  Why,  I  believe  I  did.  It  was  mighty  unneces 
sary."  And  the  Virginian  took  out  the  pistol 
again,  and  shook  his  head  over  it,  like  one  who  has 
been  caught  in  a  blunder. 

She  looked  at  him,  and  knew  that  she  must  step 
outside  his  reticence  again.  By  love  and  her  sur 
render  to  him  their  positions  had  been  exchanged. 


448  THE   VIRGINIAN 

He  was  not  now,  as  through  his"  long  courting 
he  had  been,  her  half-obeying,  half-refractory  wor 
shipper.  She  was  no  longer  his  half-indulgent, 
half-scornful  superior.  Her  better  birth  and  school 
ing  that  had  once  been  weapons  to  keep  him  at 
his  distance,  or  bring  her  off  victorious  in  their 
encounters,  had  given  way  before  the  onset  of  the 
natural  man  himself.  She  knew  her  cow-boy  lover, 
with  all  that  he  lacked,  to  be  more  than  ever  she 
could  be,  with  all  that  she  had.  He  was  her  wor 
shipper  still,  but  her  master,  too.  Therefore  now, 
against  the  baffling  smile  he  gave  her,  she  felt 
powerless.  And  once  again  a  pang  of  yearning 
for  her  mother  to  be  near  her  to-day  shot  through 
the  girl.  She  looked  from  her  untamed  man  to 
the  untamed  desert  of  Wyoming,  and  the  town 
where  she  was  to  take  him  as  her  wedded  hus 
band.  But  for  his  sake  she  would  not  let  him 
guess  her  loneliness. 

He  sat  on  his  horse  Monte,  considering  the 
pistol.  Then  he  showed  her  a  rattlesnake  coiled 
by  the  roots  of  some  sage-brush.  "  Can  I  hit  it  ?  " 
he  inquired. 

"  You  don't  often  miss  them,"  said  she,  striving 
to  be  cheerful. 

"  Well,  I'm  told  getting  married  unstrings  some 
men."  He  aimed,  and  the  snake  was  shattered. 
"  Maybe  it's  too  early  yet  for  the  unstringing  to 
begin  !  "  And  with  some  deliberation  he  sent 
three  more  bullets  into  the  snake.  "I  reckon 
that's  enough,"  said  he. 

"  Was  not  the  first  one  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  for  the  snake."  And  then,  with  one 
leg  crooked  cow-boy  fashion  across  in  front  of 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  449 

his  saddle-horn,  he  cleaned  his  pistol,  and  re 
placed  the  empty  cartridges. 

Once  more  she  ventured  near  the  line  of  his 
reticence.  "  Has  —  has  Trampas  seen  you  much 
lately  ? " 

"  Why,  no ;  not  for  a  right  smart  while.  But 
I  reckon  he  has  not  missed  me." 

The  Virginian  spoke  this  in  his  gentlest  voice. 
But  his  rebuffed  sweetheart  turned  her  face  away, 
and  from  her  eyes  she  brushed  a  tear. 

He  reined  his  horse  Monte  beside  her,  and 
upon  her  cheek  she  felt  his  kiss.  "  You  are  not 
the  only  mind-reader,"  said  he,  very  tenderly.  And 
at  this  she  clung  to  him,  and  laid  her  head  upon  his 
breast.  "  I  had  been  thinking,"  he  went  on,  "  that 
the  way  our  marriage  is  to  be  was  the  most  beau 
tiful  way." 

"  It  is  the  most  beautiful,"  she  murmured. 

He  slowly  spoke  out  his  thought,  as  if  she  had 
not  said  this.  "  No  folks  to  stare,  no  fuss,  no 
jokes  and  ribbons  and  best  bonnets,  no  public 
eye  nor  talkin'  of  tongues  when  most  yu'  want 
to  hear  nothing  and  say  nothing." 

She  answered  by  holding  him  closer. 

"  Just  the  bishop  of  Wyoming  to  join  us,  and 
not  even  him  after  we're  once  joined.  I  did  think 
that  would  be  ahead  of  all  ways  to  get  married 
I  have  seen." 

He  paused  again,  and  she  made  no  rejoinder. 

"  But  we  have  left  out  your  mother." 

She  looked  in  his  face  with  quick  astonishment. 
It  was  as  if  his  spirit  had  heard  the  cry  of  her  spirit. 

"  That  is  nowhere  near  right,"  he  said.  "  That 
is  wrong." 

2G 


450  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  She  could  never  have  come  here,"  said  the 
girl. 

"  We  should  have  gone  there.  I  don't  know 
how  I  can  ask  her  to  forgive  me." 

"  But  it  was  not  you ! "  cried  Molly. 

"Yes.  Because  I  did  not  object.  I  did  not 
tell  you  we  must  go  to  her.  I  missed  the  point, 
thinking  so  much  about  my  own  feelings.  For 
you  see  —  and  I've  never  said  this  to  you  until 
now  —  your  mother  did  hurt  me.  When  you 
said  you  would  have  me  after  my  years  of  waiting, 
and  I  wrote  her  that  letter  telling  her  all  about 
myself,  and  how  my  family  was  not  like  yours, 
and  —  and — all  the  rest  I  told  her,  why  you  see 
it  hurt  me  never  to  get  a  word  back  from  her 
except  just  messages  through  you.  For  I  had 
talked  to  her  about  my  hopes  and  my  failings. 
I  had  said  more  than  ever  I've  said  to  you, 
because  she  was  your  mother.  I  wanted  her  to 
forgive  me,  if  she  could,  and  feel  that  maybe  I 
could  take  good  care  of  you  after  all.  For  it  was 
bad  enough  to  have  her  daughter  quit  her  home 
to  teach  school  out  hyeh  on  Bear  Creek.  Bad 
enough  without  havin'  me  to  come  along  and 
make  it  worse.  I  have  missed  the  point  in  think 
ing  of  my  own  feelings." 

"  But  it's  not  your  doing! "  repeated  Molly. 

With  his  deep  delicacy  he  had  put  the  whole 
matter  as  a  hardship  to  her  mother  alone.  He 
had  saved  her  any  pain  of  confession  or  denial. 
"  Yes,  it  is  my  doing,"  he  now  said.  "  Shall  we 
give  it  up  ?  " 

"  Give  what  —  ?  "     She  did  not  understand. 

"  Why,  the  order  we've  got  it  fixed  in.     Plans 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  451 

are  —  well,  they're  no  more  than  plans.  I  hate 
the  notion  of  changing,  but  I  hate  hurting  your 
mother  more.  Or,  anyway,  I  ought  to  hate  it 
more.  So  we  can  shift,  if  yu'  say  so.  It's  not 
too  late." 

"Shift?"  she  faltered. 

"  I  mean,  we  can  go  to  your  home  now.  We 
can  start  by  the  stage  to-night.  Your  mother 
can  see  us  married.  We  can  come  back  and 
finish  in  the  mountains  instead  of  beginning  in 
them.  It'll  be  just  merely  shifting,  yu'  see." 

He  could  scarcely  bring  himself  to  say  this  at 
all ;  yet  he  said  it  almost  as  if  he  were  urging  it. 
It  implied  a  renunciation  that  he  could  hardly 
bear  to  think  of.  To  put  off  his  wedding  day, 
the  bliss  upon  whose  threshold  he  stood  after 
his  three  years  of  faithful  battle  for  it,  and  that 
wedding  journey  he  had  arranged :  for  there 
were  the  mountains  in  sight,  the  woods  and 
canons  where  he  had  planned  to  go  with  her 
after  the  bishop  had  joined  them ;  the  solitudes 
where  only  the  wild  animals  would  be,  besides 
themselves.  His  horses,  his  tent,  his  rifle,  his 
rod,  all  were  waiting  ready  in  the  town  for  their 
start  to-morrow.  He  had  provided  many  dainty 
things  to  make  her  comfortable.  Well,  he  could 
wait  a  little  more,  having  waited  three  years.  It 
would  not  be  what  his  heart  most  desired :  there 
would  be  the  "public  eye  and  the  talking  of 
tongues  "  —  but  he  could  wait.  The  hour  would 
come  when  he  could  be  alone  with  his  bride  at 
last.  And  so  he  spoke  as  if  he  urged  it. 

"  Never  !  "  she  cried.     "  Never,  never !  " 

She  pushed  it  from  her.     She  would  not  brook 


452  THE  VIRGINIAN 

such  sacrifice  on  his  part.  Were  they  not  going 
to  her  mother  in  four  weeks  ?  If  her  family  had 
warmly  accepted  him  —  but  they  had  not;  and 
in  any  case,  it  had  gone  too  far,  it  was  too  late. 
She  told  her  lover  that  she  would  not  hear  him, 
that  if  he  said  any  more  she  would  gallop  into 
town  separately  from  him.  And  for  his  sake  she 
would  hide  deep  from  him  this  loneliness  of  hers, 
and  the  hurt  that  he  had  given  her  in  refusing  to 
share  with  her  his  trouble  with  Trampas,  when 
others  must  know  of  it. 

Accordingly,  they  descended  the  hill  slowly 
together,  lingering  to  spin  out  these  last  miles 
long.  Many  rides  had  taught  their  horses  to  go 
side  by  side,  and  so  they  went  now:  the  girl 
sweet  and  thoughtful  in  her  sedate  gray  habit; 
and  the  man  in  his  leathern  chaps  and  cartridge 
belt  and  flannel  shirt,  looking  gravely  into  the 
distance  with  the  level  gaze  of  the  frontier. 

Having  read  his  sweetheart's  mind  very  plainly, 
the  lover  now  broke  his  dearest  custom.  It  was 
his  code  never  to  speak  ill  of  any  man  to  any 
woman.  Men's  quarrels  were  not  for  women's 
ears.  In  his  scheme,  good  women  were  to  know 
only  a  fragment  of  men's  lives.  He  had  lived 
many  outlaw  years,  and  his  wide  knowledge  of 
evil  made  innocence  doubly  precious  to  him. 
But  to-day  he  must  depart  from  his  code,  having 
read  her  mind  well.  He  would  speak  evil  of  one 
man  to  one  woman,  because  his  reticence  had 
hurt  her  —  and  was  she  not  far  from  her  mother, 
and  very  lonely,  do  what  he  could  ?  She  should 
know  the  story  of  his  quarrel  in  language  as  light 
and  casual  as  he  could  veil  it  with. 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  453 

He  made  an  oblique  start.  He  did  not  say  to 
her:  "111  tell  you  about  this.  You  saw  me  get 
ready  for  Trampas  because  I  have  been  ready  for 
him  any  time  these  five  years."  He  began  far  off 
from  the  point  with  that  rooted  caution  of  his  — 
that  caution  which  is  shared  by  the  primal  savage 
and  the  perfected  diplomat. 

"  There's  cert'nly  a  right  smart  o'  difference 
between  men  and  women,"  he  observed. 

"  You're  quite  sure  ?  "  she  retorted. 

"  Ain't  it  fortunate  ?  —that  there's  both,  I  mean." 

"  I  don't  know  about  fortunate.  Machinery 
could  probably  do  all  the  heavy  work  for  us  with 
out  your  help." 

"  And  who'd  invent  the  machinery  ?  " 

She  laughed.  "  We  shouldn't  need  the  huge, 
noisy  things  you  do.  Our  world  would  be  a  gen 
tle  one." 

"  Oh,  my  gracious  !  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  my  gracious !  Get  along,  Monte !  A 
gentle  world  all  full  of  ladies ! " 

"  Do  you  call  men  gentle  ?  "  inquired  Molly. 

"  Now  it's  a  funny  thing  about  that.  Have  yu' 
ever  noticed  a  joke  about  fathers-in-law  ?  There's 
just  as  many  fathers-  as  mothers-in-law ;  but 
which  side  are  your  jokes  ? " 

Molly  was  not  vanquished.  "  That's  because 
the  men  write  the  comic  papers,"  said  she. 

"  Hear  that,  Monte  ?  The  men  write  'em. 
Well,  if  the  ladies  wrote  a  comic  paper,  I  expect 
that  might  be  gentle." 

She  gave  up  this  battle  in  mirth ;  and  he  re 
sumed  :  — 


454  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  But  don't  you  really  reckon  it's  uncommon  to 
meet  a  father-in-law  flouncin'  around  the  house  ? 
As  for  gentle  —  Once  I  had  to  sleep  in  a  room 
next  a  ladies'  temperance  meetin'.  Oh,  heavens  ! 
Well,  I  couldn't  change  my  room,  and  the  hotel 
man,  he  apologized  to  me  next  mawnin'.  Said  it 
didn't  surprise  him  the  husbands  drank  some." 

Here  the  Virginian  broke  down  over  his  own 
fantastic  inventions,  and  gave  a  joyous  chuckle  in 
company  with  his  sweetheart.  "  Yes,  there's  a 
big  heap  o'  difference  between  men  and  women," 
he  said.  "  Take  that  fello'  and  myself,  now." 

"  Trampas  ?  "  said  Molly,  quickly  serious.  She 
looked  along  the  road  ahead,  and  discerned  the 
figure  of  Trampas  still  visible  on  its  way  to  town. 

The  Virginian  did  not  wish  her  to  be  serious  — 
more  than  could  be  helped.  "  Why,  yes,"  he  re 
plied,  with  a  waving  gesture  at  Trampas.  "  Take 
him  and  me.  He  don't  think  much  o'  me.  How 
could  he  ?  And  I  expect  he'll  never.  But  yu' 
saw  just  now  how  it  was  between  us.  We  were 
not  a  bit  like  a  temperance  meetin'." 

She  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  twist  he 
gave  to  his  voice.  And  she  felt  happiness  warm 
ing  her ;  for  in  the  Virginian's  tone  about  Tram- 
pas  was  something  now  that  no  longer  excluded 
her.  Thus  he  began  his  gradual  recital,  in  a 
cadence  always  easy,  and  more  and  more  musical 
with  the  native  accent  of  the  South.  With  the 
light  turn  he  gave  it,  its  pure  ugliness  melted  into 
charm. 

"  No,  he  don't  think  anything  of  me.  Once  a 
man  in  the  John  Day  Valley  didn't  think  much, 
and  by  Canada  de  Oro  I  met  another.  It  will 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  455 

always  be  so  here  and  there,  but  Trampas  beats 
'em  all.  For  the  others  have  always  expressed 
themselves  —  got  shut  of  their  poor  opinion  in 
the  open  air. 

"  Yu'  see,  I  had  to  explain  myself  to  Trampas 
a  right  smart  while  ago,  long  before  ever  I  laid 
my  eyes  on  yu'.  It  was  just  nothing  at  all.  A 
little  matter  of  cyards  in  the  days  when  I  was  apt 
to  spend  my  money  and  my  holidays  pretty  head 
long.  My  gracious,  what  nonsensical  times  I 
have  had !  But  I  was  apt  to  win  at  cyards,  'spe 
cially  poker.  And  Trampas,  he  met  me  one 
night,  and  I  expect  he  must  have  thought  I 
looked  kind  o'  young.  So  he  hated  losin'  his 
money  to  such  a  young-lookin'  man,  and  he  took 
his  way  of  sayin'  as  much.  I  had  to  explain  my 
self  to  him  plainly,  so  that  he  learned  right  away 
my  age  had  got  its  growth. 

"Well,  I  expect  he  hated  that  worse,  having 
to  receive  my  explanation  with  folks  lookin'  on  at 
us  publicly  that-a-way,  and  him  without  further 
ideas  occurrin'  to  him  at  the  moment.  That's 
what  started  his  poor  opinion  of  me,  not  havin' 
ideas  at  the  moment.  And  so  the  boys  resumed 
their  cyards. 

"  I'd  most  forgot  about  it.  But  Trampas's 
mem'ry  is  one  of  his  strong  points.  Next  thing 
—  oh,  it's  a  good  while  later  —  he  gets  to  losin' 
flesh  because  Judge  Henry  gave  me  charge  of 
him  and  some  other  punchers  taking  cattle  —  " 

"  That's  not  next,"  interrupted  the  girl. 

"Not?     Why  —  " 

"  Don't  you  remember  ? "  she  said,  timid,  yet 
eager.  "Don't  you?" 


456  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  Blamed  if  I  do  !  " 

"  The  first  time  we  met  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  my  mem'ry  keeps  that  —  like  I  keep 
this."  And  he  brought  from  his  pocket  her  own 
handkerchief,  the  token  he  had  picked  up  at  a 
river's  brink  when  he  had  carried  her  from  an 
overturned  stage. 

"  We  did  not  exactly  meet,  then,"  she  said. 
"  It  was  at  that  dance.  I  hadn't  seen  you  yet ; 
but  Trampas  was  saying  something  horrid  about 
me,  and  you  said  —  you  said,  '  Rise  on  your  legs, 
you  pole  cat,  and  tell  them  you're  a  liar.'  When 
I  heard  that,  I  think  —  I  think  it  finished  me." 
And  crimson  suffused  Molly's  countenance. 

"  I'd  forgot,"  the  Virginian  murmured.  Then 
sharply,  "  How  did  you  hear  it  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Taylor  - 

"  Oh  !  Well,  a  man  would  never  have  told  a 
woman  that." 

Molly  laughed  triumphantly.  "  Then  who  told 
Mrs.  Taylor?" 

Being  caught,  he  grinned  at  her.  "  I  reckon 
husbands  are  a  special  kind  of  man,"  was  all  that 
he  found  to  say.  "  Well,  since  you  do  know 
about  that,  it  was  the  next  move  in  the  game. 
Trampas  thought  I  had  no  call  to  stop  him  sayin' 
what  he  pleased  about  a  woman  who  was  nothin' 
to  me  —  then.  But  all  women  ought  to  be  some- 
thin'  to  a  man.  So  I  had  to  give  Trampas  an 
other  explanation  in  the  presence  of  folks  lookin' 
on,  and  it  was  just  like  the  cyards.  No  ideas 
occurred  to  him  again.  And  down  goes  his  opin 
ion  of  me  some  more ! 

"  Well,  I  have  not  been  able  to  raise  it.     There 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  457 

has  been  this  and  that  and  the  other,  —  yu'  know 
most  of  the  later  doings  yourself,  —  and  to-day  is 
the  first  time  I've  happened  to  see  the  man  since 
the  doings  last  autumn.  Yu'  seem  to  know  about 
them,  too.  He  knows  I  can't  prove  he  was  with 
that  gang  of  horse  thieves.  And  I  can't  prove 
he  killed  poor  Shorty.  But  he  knows  I  missed 
him  awful  close,  and  spoiled  his  thieving  for  a 
while.  So  d'  yu'  wonder  he  don't  think  much  of 
me  ?  But  if  I  had  lived  to  be  twenty-nine  years 
old  like  I  am,  and  with  all  my  chances  made  no 
enemy,  I'd  feel  myself  a  failure." 

His  story  was  finished.  He  had  made  her  his 
confidant  in  matters  he  had  never  spoken  of 
before,  and  she  was  happy  to  be  thus  much  nearer 
to  him.  It  diminished  a  certain  fear  that  was 
mingled  with  her  love  of  him. 

During  the  next  several  miles  he  was  silent, 
and  his  silence  was  enough  for  her.  Vermont 
sank  away  from  her  thoughts,  and  Wyoming  held 
less  of  loneliness.  They  descended  altogether 
into  the  map  which  had  stretched  below  them,  so 
that  it  was  a  map  no  longer,  but  earth  with  grow 
ing  things,  and  prairie-dogs  sitting  upon  it,  and 
now  and  then  a  bird  flying  over  it.  And  after  a 
while  she  said  to  him,  "What  are  you  thinking 
about  ? " 

"  I  have  been  doing  sums.  Figured  in  hours 
it  sounds  right  short.  Figured  in  minutes  it 
boils  up  into  quite  a  mess.  Twenty  by  sixty  is 
twelve  hundred.  Put  that  into  seconds,  and  yu' 
get  seventy-two  thousand  seconds.  -  Seventy-two 
thousand.  Seventy-two  thousand  seconds  yet  be 
fore  we  get  married." 


458  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Seconds !  To  think  of  its  having  come  to 
seconds ! " 

"  I  am  thinkin'  about  it.  I'm  choppin'  sixty 
of  'em  off  every  minute." 

With  such  chopping  time  wears  away.  More 
miles  of  the  road  lay  behind  them,  and  in  the 
virgin  wilderness  the  scars  of  new-scraped  water 
ditches  began  to  appear,  and  the  first  wire  fences. 
Next,  they  were  passing  cabins  and  occasional 
fields,  the  outposts  of  habitation.  The  free  road 
became  wholly  imprisoned,  running  between  un 
broken  stretches  of  barbed  wire.  Far  off  to  the 
eastward  a  flowing  column  of  dust  marked  the 
approaching  stage,  bringing  the  bishop,  probably, 
for  whose  visit  here  they  had  timed  their  wed 
ding.  The  day  still  brimmed  with  heat  and  sun 
shine  ;  but  the  great  daily  shadow  was  beginning 
to  move  from  the  feet  of  the  Bow  Leg  Mountains 
outward  toward  the  town.  Presently  they  began 
to  meet  citizens.  Some  of  these  knew  them  and 
nodded,  while  some  did  not,  and  stared.  Turn 
ing  a  corner  into  the  town's  chief  street,  where 
stood  the  hotel,  the  bank,  the  drug  store,  the 

feneral  store,  and  the  seven  saloons,  they  were 
ailed  heartily.  Here  were  three  friends, — 
Honey  Wiggin,  Scipio  Le  Moyne,  and  Lin  Mc 
Lean, —  all  desirous  of  drinking  the  Virginian's 
health,  if  his  lady  —  would  she  mind  ?  The  three 
stood  grinning,  with  their  hats  off;  but  behind 
their  gayety  the  Virginian  read  some  other 
purpose. 

"  We'll  all  be  very  good,"  said  Honey  Wiggin. 

"  Pretty  good,"  said  Lin. 

"  Good,"  said  Scipio. 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  459 

"  Which  is  the  honest  man  ? "  inquired  Molly, 
glad  to  see  them. 

"  Not  one  !  "  said  the  Virginian.  "  My  old 
friends  scare  me  when  I  think  of  their  ways." 

"  It's  bein'  engaged  scares  yu',"  retorted  Mr. 
McLean.  "  Marriage  restores  your  courage,  I 
find." 

"  Well,  I'll  trust  all  of  you,"  said  Molly.  "  He's 
going  to  take  me  to  the  hotel,  and  then  you  can 
drink  his  health  as  much  as  you  please." 

With  a  smile  to  them  she  turned  to  proceed, 
and  he  let  his  horse  move  with  hers ;  but  he 
looked  at  his  friends.  Then  Scipio's  bleached 
blue  eyes  narrowed  to  a  slit,  and  he  said  what 
they  had  all  come  out  on  the  street  to  say :  — 

"  Don't  change  your  clothes." 

"  Oh  !  "  protested  Molly,  "  isn't  he  rather  dusty 
and  countrified  ? " 

But  the  Virginian  had  taken  Scipio's  meaning. 
"  Don  t  change  your  clothes"  Innocent  Molly  ap 
preciated  these  words  no  more  than  the  average 
reader  who  reads  a  masterpiece,  complacently 
unaware  that  its  style  differs  from  that  of  the 
morning  paper.  Such  was  Scipio's  intention, 
wishing  to  spare  her  from  alarm. 

So  at  the  hotel  she  let  her  lover  go  with  a  kiss, 
and  without  a  thought  of  Trampas.  She  in  her 
room  unlocked  the  possessions  which  were  there 
waiting  for  her,  and  changed  her  dress. 

Wedding  garments,  and  other  civilized  apparel 
proper  for  a  genuine  frontiersman  when  he  comes 
to  town,  were  also  in  the  hotel,  ready  for  the 
Virginian  to  wear.  It  is  only  the  somewhat  green 
and  unseasoned  cow-puncher  who  struts  before  the 


460  THE  VIRGINIAN 

public  in  spurs  and  deadly  weapons.  For  many 
a  year  the  Virginian  had  put  away  these  childish 
things.  He  made  a  sober  toilet  for  the  streets. 
Nothing  but  his  face  and  bearing  remained  out 
of  the  common  when  he  was  in  a  town.  But 
Scipio  had  told  him  not  to  change  his  clothes ; 
therefore  he  went  out  with  his  pistol  at  his  hip. 
Soon  he  had  joined  his  three  friends. 

"  I'm  obliged  to  yu',"  he  said.  "  He  passed  me 
this  mawnin'." 

"  We  don't  know  his  intentions,"  said  Wiggin. 

"  Except  that  he's  hangin'  around,"  said  Mc 
Lean. 

"  And  fillin'  up,"  said  Scipio,  "  which  reminds 


me  —  " 


They  strolled  into  the  saloon  of  a  friend,  where, 
unfortunately,  sat  some  foolish  people.  But  one 
cannot  always  tell  how  much  of  a  fool  a  man  is, 
at  sight. 

It  was  a  temperate  health-drinking  that  they 
made.  "  Here's  how,"  they  muttered  softly  to 
the  Virginian ;  and  "  How,"  he  returned  softly, 
looking  away  from  them.  But  they  had  a  brief 
meeting  of  eyes,  standing  and  lounging  near  each 
other,  shyly;  and  Scipio  shook  hands  with  the 
bridegroom.  "  Some  day,"  he  stated,  tapping 
himself;  for  in  his  vagrant  heart  he  began  to 
envy  the  man  who  could  bring  himself  to  marry. 
And  he  nodded  again,  repeating,  "  Here's  how." 

They  stood  at  the  bar,  full  of  sentiment,  empty 
of  words,  memory  and  affection  busy  in  their 
hearts.  All  of  them  had  seen  rough  days  to 
gether,  and  they  felt  guilty  with  emotion. 

"  It's  hot  weather,"  said  Wiggin. 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  461 

"  Hotter  on  Box  Elder,"  said  McLean.  "  My 
kid  has  started  teething." 

Words  ran  dry  again.  They  shifted  their  posi 
tions,  looked  in  their  glasses,  read  the  labels  on 
the  bottles.  They  dropped  a  word  now  and  then 
to  the  proprietor  about  his  trade,  and  his  orna 
ments. 

"  Good  head,"  commented  McLean. 

"  Big  old  ram,"  assented  the  proprietor.  "  Shot 
him  myself  on  Gray  Bull  last  fall." 

"  Sheep  was  thick  in  the  Tetons  last  fall,"  said 
the  Virginian. 

On  the  bar  stood  a  machine  into  which  the 
idle  customer  might  drop  his  nickel.  The  coin 
then  bounced  among  an  arrangement  of  pegs, 
descending  at  length  into  one  or  another  of  vari 
ous  holes.  You  might  win  as  much  as  ten  times 
your  stake,  but  this  was  not  the  most  usual  result ; 
and  with  nickels  the  three  friends  and  the  bride 
groom  now  mildly  sported  for  a  while,  buying 
them  with  silver  when  their  store  ran  out. 

"  Was  it  sheep  you  went  after  in  the  Tetons  ? " 
inquired  the  proprietor,  knowing  it  was  horse 
thieves. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Virginian.  "  I'll  have  ten  more 
nickels." 

"  Did  you  get  all  the  sheep  you  wanted  ?  "  the 
proprietor  continued. 

"  Poor  luck,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  Think  there's  a  friend  of  yours  in  town  this 
afternoon,"  said  the  proprietor. 

"  Did  he  mention  he  was  my  friend  ?  " 

The  proprietor  laughed.  The  Virginian  watched 
another  nickel  click  down  among  the  pegs. 


462  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Honey  Wiggin  now  made  the  bridegroom  a 
straight  offer.  "We'll  take  this  thing  off  your 
hands,"  said  he. 

"  Any  or  all  of  us,"  said  Lin. 

But  Scipio  held  his  peace.  His  loyalty  went 
every  inch  as  far  as  theirs,  but  his  understanding 
of  his  friend  went  deeper.  "  Don't  change  your 
clothes,"  was  the  first  and  the  last  help  he  would 
be  likely  to  give  in  this  matter.  The  rest  must 
be  as  such  matters  must  always  be,  between  man 
and  man.  To  the  other  two  friends,  however, 
this  seemed  a  very  special  case,  falling  outside 
established  precedent.  Therefore  they  ventured 
offers  of  interference. 

"  A  man  don't  get  married  every  day,"  apolo 
gized  McLean.  "  We'll  just  run  him  out  of  town 
for  yu'." 

"  Save  yu'  the  trouble,"  urged  Wiggin.  "  Say 
the  word." 

The  proprietor  now  added  his  voice.  "  It'll 
sober  him  up  to  spend  his  night  out  in  the  brush. 
He'll  quit  his  talk  then." 

But  the  Virginian  did  not  say  the  word,  or  any 
word.     He  stood  playing  with  the  nickels. 
"~  "  Think  of  her,"  muttered  McLean. 
-  "  Who  else  would  I  be  thinking  of  ? "  returned 
the  Southerner.     His  face  had  become  very  som 
bre.     "  She   has    been    raised   so    different ! "   he 
murmured.       He    pondered   a    little,    while    the 
others  waited,  solicitous. 

A  new  idea  came  to  the  proprietor.  "  I  am 
acting  mayor  of  this  town,"  said  he.  "  I'll  put 
him  in  the  calaboose  and  keep  him  till  you  get 
married  and  away." 


WITH    MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  463 

"  Say  the  word,"  repeated  Honey  Wiggin. 

Scipio's  eye  met  the  proprietor's,  and  he  shook 
his  head  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  The  pro 
prietor  shook  his  to  the  same  amount.  They 
understood  each  other.  It  had  come  to  that 
point  where  there  was  no  way  out,  save  only  the 
ancient,  eternal  way  between  man  and  man.  It 
is  only  the  great  mediocrity  that  goes  to  law  in 
these  personal  matters. 

"  So  he  has  talked  about  me  some? "  said  the 
Virginian. 

"  It's  the  whiskey,"  Scipio  explained. 

"  I  expect,"  said  McLean,  "  he'd  run  a  mile 
if  he  was  in  a  state  to  appreciate  his  insinua 
tions." 

"  Which  we  are  careful  not  to  mention  to  yu'," 
said  Wiggin,  "  unless  yu'  inquire  for  'em." 

Some  of  the  fools  present  had  drawn  closer  to 
hear  this  interesting  conversation.  In  gatherings 
of  more  than  six  there  will  generally  be  at  least 
one  fool ;  and  this  company  must  have  numbered 
twenty  men. 

"  This  country  knows  well  enough,"  said  one 
fool,  who  hungered  to  be  important,  "that  you 
don't  brand  no  calves  that  ain't  your  own." 

The  saturnine  Virginian  looked  at  him. 
"  Thank  yu',"  said  he,  gravely,  "  for  your  indorse 
ment  of  my  character."  The  fool  felt  flattered. 
The  Virginian  turned  to  his  friends.  His  hand 
slowly  pushed  his  hat  back,  and  he  rubbed  his 
black  head  in  thought. 

"  Glad  to  see  yu've  got  your  gun  with  you,"  con 
tinued  the  happy  fool.  "  You  know  what  Trampas 
claims  about  that  affair  of  yours  in  the  Tetons  ? 


464  THE   VIRGINIAN 

He  claims  that  if  everything  was  known  about 
the  killing  of  Shorty  —  " 

"  Take  one  on  the  house,"  suggested  the  pro 
prietor  to  him,  amiably.  "  Your  news  will  be 
fresher."  And  he  pushed  him  the  bottle.  The 
fool  felt  less  important. 

"  This  talk  had  went  the  rounds  before  it  got 
to  us,"  said  Scipio,  "  or  we'd  have  headed  it  off. 
He  has  got  friends  in  town." 

Perplexity  knotted  the  Virginian's  brows.  This 
community  knew  that  a  man  had  implied  he  was 
a  thief  and  a  murderer ;  it  also  knew  that  he  knew 
it.  But  the  case  was  one  of  peculiar  circum 
stances,  assuredly.  Could  he  avoid  meeting  the 
man  ?  Soon  the  stage  would  be  starting  south 
for  the  railroad.  He  had  already  to-day  proposed 
to  his  sweetheart  that  they  should  take  it.  Could 
he  for  her  sake  leave  unanswered  a  talking  enemy 
upon  the  field?  His  own  ears  had  not  heard  the 
enemy. 

Into  these  reflections  the  fool  stepped  once 
more.  "  Of  course  this  country  don't  believe 
Trampas,"  said  he.  "  This  country  —  " 

But  he  contributed  no  further  thoughts.  From 
somewhere  in  the  rear  of  the  building,  where  it 
opened  upon  the  tin  cans  and  the  hinder  purlieus 
of  the  town,  came  a  movement,  and  Trampas  was 
among  them,  courageous  with  whiskey. 

All  the  fools  now  made  themselves  conspicuous. 
One  lay  on  the  floor,  knocked  there  by  the  Vir 
ginian,  whose  arm  he  had  attempted  to  hold. 
Others  struggled  with  Trampas,  and  his  bullet 
smashed  the  ceiling  before  they  could  drag  the 
pistol  from  him.  "  There  now !  there  now !  "  they 


WITH  MALICE  AFORETHOUGHT  465 

interposed;  "you  don't  want  to  talk  like  that," 
for  he  was  pouring  out  a  tide  of  hate  and  vilifi 
cation.  Yet  the  Virginian  stood  quiet  by  the  bar, 
and  many  an  eye  of  astonishment  was  turned  upon 
him.  "  I'd  not  stand  half  that  language,"  some 
muttered  to  each  other.  Still  the  Virginian 
waited  quietly,  while  the  fools  reasoned  with 
Trampas.  But  no  earthly  foot  can  step  between 
a  man  and  his  destiny.  Trampas  broke  suddenly 
free. 

"Your  friends  have  saved  your  life,"  he  rang 
out,  with  obscene  epithets.  "  I'll  give  you  till  sun- 
down  to  leave  town." 

There  was  total  silence  instantly. 

"  Trampas,"  spoke  the  Virginian,  "  I  don't  want 
trouble  with  you." 

"  He  never  has  wanted  it,"  Trampas  sneered  to 
the  bystanders.  "  He  has  been  dodging  it  five 
years.  But  I've  got  him  coralled." 

Some  of  the  Trampas  faction  smiled. 

"  Trampas,"  said  the  Virginian  again,  "  are  yu' 
sure  yu'  really  mean  that?  " 

The  whiskey  bottle  flew  through  the  air,  hurled 
by  Trampas,  and  crashed  through  the  saloon  win 
dow  behind  the  Virginian. 

"  That  was  surplusage,  Trampas,"  said  he,  "  if 

'  mean  the  other." 

"  Get  out  by  sundown,  that's  all,"  said  Trampas. 
And  wheeling,  he  went  out  of  the  saloon  by  the 
rear,  as  he  had  entered. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  I  know  you 
will  all  oblige  me." 

"  Sure ! "  exclaimed  the  proprietor,  heartily, 
"  We'll  see  that  everybody  lets  this  thing  alone." 


2H 


THE   VIRGINIAN 

The  Virginian  gave  a  general  nod  to  the  com 
pany,  and  walked  out  into  the  street. 

"  It's  a  turruble  shame,"  sighed  Scipio,  "  that  he 
couldn't  have  postponed  it." 

The  Virginian  walked  in  the  open  air  with 
thoughts  disturbed.  "  I  am  of  two  minds  about 
one  thing,"  he  said  to  himself  uneasily. 

Gossip  ran  in  advance  of  him ;  but  as  he  came 
by,  the  talk  fell  away  until  he  had  passed.  Then 
they  looked  after  him,  and  their  words  again  rose 
audibly.  Thus  everywhere  a  little  eddy  of  silence 
accompanied  his  steps. 

"  It  don't  trouble  him  much,"  one  said,  having 
read  nothing  in  the  Virginian's  face. 

"  It  may  trouble  his  girl  some,"  said  another. 

"She'll  not  know,"  said  a  third,  "until  it's  over." 

"He'll  not  tell  her?" 

"  I  wouldn't.     It's  no  woman's  business." 

"  Maybe  that's  so.  Well,  it  would  have  suited 
me  to  have  Trampas  die  sooner." 

"  How  would  it  suit  you  to  have  him  live 
longer  ?  "  inquired  a  member  of  the  opposite  fac 
tion,  suspected  of  being  himself  a  cattle  thief. 

"  I  could  answer  your  question,  if  I  had  other 
folks'  calves  I  wanted  to  brand."  This  raised 
both  a  laugh  and  a  silence. 

Thus  the  town  talked,  filling  in  the  time  before 
sunset. 

The  Virginian,  still  walking  aloof  in  the  open 
air,  paused  at  the  edge  of  the  town.  "  I'd  sooner 
have  a  sickness  than  be  undecided  this  way,"  he 
said,  and  he  looked  up  and  down.  Then  a  grim 
smile  came  at  his  own  expense.  "  I  reckon  it 
would  make  me  sick  —  but  there's  not  time." 


WITH   MALICE  AFORETHOUGHT  467 

Over  there  in  the  hotel  sat  his  sweetheart, 
alone,  away  from  her  mother,  her  friends,  her 
home,  waiting  his  return,  knowing  nothing.  He 
looked  into  the  west.  Between  the  sun  and  the 
bright  ridges  of  the  mountains  was  still  a  space 
of  sky  ;  but  the  shadow  from  the  mountains'  feet 
had  drawn  halfway  toward  the  town.  "  About 
forty  minutes  more,"  he  said  aloud.  "  She  has 
been  raised  so  different."  And  he  sighed  as 
he  turned  back.  As  he  went  slowly,  he  did  not 
know  how  great  was  his  own  unhappiness.  "  She 
has  been  raised  so  different,"  he  said  again. 

Opposite  the  post-office  the  bishop  of  Wyoming 
met  him  and  greeted  him.  His  lonely  heart 
throbbed  at  the  warm,  firm  grasp  of  this  friend's 
Vhand.  The  bishop  saw  his  eyes  glow  suddenly, 
as  if  tears  were  close.  But  none  came,  and  no 
word  more  open  than,  "  I'm  glad  to  see  you." 

But  gossip  had  reached  the  bishop,  and  he  was 
sorely  troubled  also.  "  What  is  all  this  ?  "  said  he, 
coming  straight  to  it. 

The  Virginian  looked  at  the  clergyman  frankly. 
"  Yu'  know  just  as  much  about  it  as  I  do,"  he 
said.  "  And  I'll  tell  yu'  anything  yu'  ask." 

"  Have  you  told  Miss  Wood  ?  "  inquired  the 
bishop. 

The  eyes  of  the  bridegroom  fell,  and  the  bish 
op's  face  grew  at  once  more  keen  and  more  troub 
led.  Then  the  bridegroom  raised  his  eyes  again, 
and  the  bishop  almost  loved  him.  He  touched  his 
arm,  like  a  brother.  "  This  is  hard  luck,"  he  said. 

The  bridegroom  could  scarce  keep  his  voice 
\  steady.  "  I  want  to  do  right  to-day  more  than 
any  day  I  have  ever  lived,"  said  he. 


468  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Then  go  and  tell  her  at  once." 

"  It  will  just  do  nothing  but  scare  her." 

"  Go  and  tell  her  at  once." 

"  I  expected  you  was  going  to  tell  me  to 
run  away  from  Trampas.  I  can't  do  that,  yu' 
know." 

The  bishop  did  know.  Never  before  in  all  his 
wilderness  work  had  he  faced  such  a  thing.  He 
knew  that  Trampas  was  an  evil  in  the  country, 
2/and  that  the  Virginian  was  a  good.  He  knew 
that  the  cattle  thieves  —  the  rustlers  —  were  gain 
ing  in  numbers  and  audacity;  that  they  led  many 
weak  young  fellows  to  ruin;  that  they  elected  their 
men  to  office,  and  controlled  juries;  that  they  were 
a  staring  menace  to  Wyoming.  His  heart  was 
with  the  Virginian.  But  there  was  his  Gospel, 
that  he  preached,  and  believed,  and  tried  to  live. 
He  stood  looking  at  the  ground  and  drawing 
|  a  finger  along  his  eyebrow.  He  wished  that  he 
might  have  heard  nothing  about  all  this.  But  he 
was  not  one  to  blink  his  responsibility  as  a  Chris- 
tian  server  of  the  church  militant. 

"  Am  I  -right,"  he  now  slowly  asked,  "  in  believ 
ing  that  you  think  I  am  a  sincere  man  ? " 

"  I  don't  believe  anything  about  it.  I  know 
it." 

"  I  should  run  away  from  Trampas,"  said  the 
bishop. 

"  That  ain't  quite  fair,  seh.  We  all  understand 
you  have  got  to  do  the  things  you  tell  other  folks 
to  do.  And  you  do  them,  seh.  You  never  talk 
\like  anything  but  a  man,  and  you  never  set  your 
self  above  others.  You  can  saddle  your  own 
horses.  And  I  saw  yu'  walk  unarmed  into  that 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  469 

White  River  excitement  when  those  two  other 
parsons  was  a-foggin'  and  a-fannin'  for  their  own 
safety.  Damn  scoundrels  !  " 

The  bishop  instantly  rebuked   such  language 
about  brothers  of  his  cloth,  even  though  he  dis 
approved    both    of    them    and    their    doctrines, 
x"  Every   one    may   be    an    instrument    of    Provi 
dence,"  he  concluded. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  if  that  is  so,  then 
Providence  makes  use  of  instruments  I'd  not 
touch  with  a  ten-foot  pole.  Now  if  you  was  me, 
seh,  and  not  a  bishop,  would  you  run  away  from 
Trampas  ?  " 

"That's  not  quite  fair,  either!"  exclaimed  the 
bishop,  with  a  smile.  "  Because  you  are  asking 
me  to  take  another  man's  convictions,  and  yet 
remain  myself." 

"  Yes,  seh.     I  am.     That's  so.     That  don't  get 
at  it.     I  reckon  you  and  I  can't  get  at  it." 
///""If  the  Bible,"  said  the  bishop,  "which  I  believe 
jto  be  God's  word,  was  anything  to  you  —  " 
j     "  It  is  something  to  me,  seh.     I  have  found  fine 
^truths  in  it." 

^"'Thou  shalt   not   kill,'"  quoted   the   bishop. 
^That  is  plain." 

The  Virginian  took  his  turn  at  smiling. 
"  Mighty  plain  to  me,  seh.  Make  it  plain  to 
Trampas,  and  there'll  be  no  killin.'  We  can't  get 
at  it  that  way." 

r  Once  more  the  bishop  quoted  earnestly. 
r  *  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the 
(Lord.' ': 

"  How  about  instruments  of  Providence,  seh  ? 
Why,  we  can't  get  at  it  that  way.  If  you  start 


470  THE  VIRGINIAN 

usin'  the  Bible  that  way,  it  will  mix  you  up  mighty 
quick,  seh." 

"  My  friend,"  the  bishop  urged,  and  all  his 
good,  warm  heart  was  in  it,  "  my  dear  fellow  —  go 
away  for  the  one  night.  He'll  change  his  mind." 

The  Virginian  shook  his  head.  "  He  cannot 
change  his  word,  seh.  Or  at  least  I  must  stay 
around  till  he  does.  Why,  I  have  given  him  the 
say-so.  He's  got  the  choice.  Most  men  would 
not  have  took  what  I  took  from  him  in  the  saloon. 
Why  don't  you  ask  him  to  leave  town  ?  " 

The  good  bishop  was  at  a  standstill.  Of  all 
kicking  against  the  pricks  none  is  so  hard  as  this 
kick  of  a  professing  Christian  against  the  whole 
instinct  of  human  man. 

"  But  you  have  helped  me  some,"  said  the  Vir 
ginian.  "  I  will  go  and  tell  her.  At  least,  if  I 
think  it  will  be  good  for  her,  I  will  tell  her." 

The  bishop  thought  that  he  saw  one  last  chance 
to  move  him. 

"  You're  twenty-nine,"  he  began. 

"  And  a  little  over,"  said  the  Virginian. 

"  And  you  were  fourteen  when  you  ran  away 
from  your  family." 

"  Well,  I  was  weary,  yu'  know,  of  havin'  elder 
brothers  lay  down  my  law  night  and  mawnin'." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  So  that  your  life  has  been  your 
own  for  fifteen  years.  But  it  is  not  your  own  now. 
You  have  given  it  to  a  woman." 

"  Yes ;  I  have  given  it  to  her.  But  my  life's 
not  the  whole  of  me.  I'd  give  her  twice  my  life 
—  fifty  —  a  thousand  of  'em.  But  I  can't  give 
her  —  her  nor  anybody  in  heaven  or  earth  —  I 
can't  give  my  —  my  —  we'll  never  get  at  it,  seh  ! 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  471 

There's  no  good  in  words.     Good-by."     The  Vir 
ginian  wrung  the  bishop's  hand  and  left  him. 

"  God  bless  him  !  "  said  the  bishop.  "  God 
bless  him ! " 

The  Virginian  unlocked  the  room  in  the  hotel 
where  he  kept  stored  his  tent,  his  blankets,  his 
pack-saddles,  and  his  many  accoutrements  for  the 
bridal  journey  in  the  mountains.  Out  of  the  win 
dow  he  saw  the  mountains  blue  in  shadow,  but 
some  cottonwoods  distant  in  the  flat  between  were 
still  bright  green  in  the  sun.  From  among  his 
possessions  he  took  quickly  a  pistol,  wiping  and 
loading  it.  Then  from  its  holster  he  removed  the 
pistol  which  he  had  tried  and  made  sure  of  in  the 
morning.  This,  according  to  his  wont  when  going 
into  a  risk,  he  shoved  between  his  trousers  and  his 
shirt  in  front.  The  untried  weapon  he  placed  in 
the  holster,  letting  it  hang  visibly  at  his  hip.  He 
glanced  out  of  the  window  again,  and  saw  the 
mountains  of  the  same  deep  blue.  But  the  cotton- 
woods  were  no  longer  in  the  sunlight.  The  shadow 
had  come  past  them,  nearer  the  town ;  for  fifteen 
of  the  forty  minutes  were  gone.  "  The  bishop  is 
wrong,"  he  said.  "  There  is  no  sense  in  telling 
her."  And  he  turned  to  the  door,  just  as  she  came 
to  it  herself. 

"  Oh !  "  she  cried  out  at  once,  and  rushed  to  him. 

He  swore  as  he  held  her  close.  "  The  fools !  " 
he  said.  "  The  fools !  " 

"  It  has  been  so  frightful  waiting  for  you,"  said 
she,  leaning  her  head  against  him. 

"  Who  had  to  tell  you  this  ? "  he  demanded. 

"  I  don't  know.    Somebody  just  came  and  said  it." 


472  THE  VIRGINIAN 

"  This  is  mean  luck,"  he  murmured,  patting  her. 
"  This  is  mean  luck." 

She  went  on :  "I  wanted  to  run  out  and  find 
you ;  but  I  didn't !  I  didn't !  I  stayed  quiet  in 
my  room  till  they  said  you  had  come  back." 

"  It  is  mean  luck.     Mighty  mean,"  he  repeated. 

"  How  could  you  be  so  long  ? "  she  asked. 
"  Never  mind,  I've  got  you  now.  It  is  over." 

Anger  and  sorrow  filled  him.  "  I  might  have 
known  some  fool  would  tell  you,"  he  said. 

"  It's  all  over.  Never  mind."  Her  arms  tight 
ened  their  hold  of  him.  Then  she  let  him 
go.  "  What  shall  we  do  ? "  she  said.  "  What 
now?" 

"  Now  ?  "  he  answered.     "  Nothing  now." 

She  looked  at  him  without  understanding. 

"  I  know  it  is  a  heap  worse  for  you,"  he  pursued, 
speaking  slowly.  "  I  knew  it  would  be." 

"  But  it  is  over ! "  she  exclaimed  again. 

He  did  not  understand  her  now.  He  kissed 
her.  "  Did  you  think  it  was  over  ? "  he  said 
simply.  "  There  is  some  waiting  still  before  us. 
I  wish  you  did  not  have  to  wait  alone.  But  it 
will  not  be  long."  He  was  looking  down,  and  did 
not  see  the  happiness  grow  chilled  upon  her  face, 
and  then  fade  into  bewildered  fear.  "  I  did  my 
best,"  he  went  on.  "  I  think  I  did.  I  know  I 
tried.  I  let  him  say  to  me  before  them  all  what 
no  man  has  ever  said,  or  ever  will  again.  I  kept 
thinking  hard  of  you  —  with  all  my  might,  or  I 
reckon  I'd  have  killed  him  right  there.  And  I 
gave  him  a  show  to  change  his  mind.  I  gave  it 
to  him  twice.  I  spoke  as  quiet  as  I  am  speaking 
to  you  now.  But  he  stood  to  it.  And  I  expect  he 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  473 

knows  he  went  too  far  in  the  hearing  of  others  to  go 
back  on  his  threat.  He  will  have  to  go  on  to  the 
finish  now." 

"  The  finish  ?  "  she  echoed,  almost  voiceless. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered  very  gently. 

Her  dilated  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him.  "  But  —  " 
she  could  scarce  form  utterance,  "but  you  ?  " 

"  I  have  got  myself  ready,"  he  said.  "  Did  you 
think  —  why,  what  did  you  think  ? " 

She  recoiled  a  step.  "  What  are  you  going  —  " 
She  put  her  two  hands  to  her  head.  "  Oh,  God  !  " 
she  almost  shrieked,  "  you  are  going  — "  He 
made  a  step,  and  would  have  put  his  arm  round 
her,  but  she  backed  against  the  wall,  staring  speech 
less  at  him. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  let  him  shoot  me,"  he  said 
quietly. 

"  You  mean  —  you  mean  —  but  you  can  come 
away ! "  she  cried.  "  It's  not  too  late  yet.  You 
can  take  yourself  out  of  his  reach.  Everybody 
knows  that  you  are  brave.  What  is  he  to  you  ? 
You  can  leave  him  in  this  place.  I'll  go  with  you 
anywhere.  To  any  house,  to  the  mountains,  to 
anywhere  away.  We'll  leave  this  horrible  place 
together  and  —  and  —  oh,  won't  you  listen  to 
me  ? "  She  stretched  her  hands  to  him.  "  Won't 
you  listen  ? " 

He  took  her  hands.     "  I  must  stay  here." 

Her  hands  clung  to  his.  "  No,  no,  no.  There's 
something  else.  There's  something  better  than 
shedding  blood  in  cold  blood.  Only  think  what  it 
means !  Only  think  of  having  to  remember  such 
a  thing !  Why,  it's  what  they  hang  people  for ! 
It's  murder!" 


474  THE  VIRGINIAN 

He  dropped  her  hands.  "  Don't  call  it  that 
name,"  he  said  sternly. 

"  When  there  was  the  choice ! "  she  exclaimed, 
half  to  herself,  like  a  person  stunned  and  speaking 
to  the  air.  "  To  get  ready  for  it  when  you  have 
the  choice ! " 

"  He  did  the  choosing,"  answered  the  Virginian. 
"Listen  to  me.  Are  you  listening?"  he  asked, 
for  her  gaze  was  dull. 

She  nodded. 

"  I  work  hyeh.  I  belong  hyeh.  It's  my  life. 
If  folks  came  to  think  I  was  a  coward  — " 

"  Who  would  think  you  were  a  coward  ?  " 

"  Everybody.  My  friends  would  be  sorry  and 
ashamed,  and  my  enemies  would  walk  around  say 
ing  they  had  always  said  so.  I  could  not  hold  up 
my  head  again  among  enemies  or  friends." 

"  When  it  was  explained  —  " 

"  There'd  be  nothing  to  explain.  There 'd  just 
be  the  fact."  He  was  nearly  angry. 

"  There  is  a  higher  courage  than  fear  of  outside 
opinion,"  said  the  New  England  girl. 

Her  Southern  lover  looked  at  her.  "  Cert'nly 
there  is.  That's  what  I'm  showing  in  going 
against  yours." 

"  But  if  you  know  that  you  are  brave,  and  if  I 
know  that  you  are  brave,  oh,  my  dear,  my  dear ! 
what  difference  does  the  world  make?  How 
much  higher  courage  to  go  your  own  course  —  " 

"  I  am  goin'  my  own  course,"  he  broke  in. 
"  Can't  yu'  see  how  it  must  be  about  a  man  ?  It's 
not  for  their  benefit,  friends  or  enemies,  that  I 
have  got  this  thing  to  do.  If  any  man  happened 
to  say  I  was  a  thief  and  I  heard  about  it,  would 


WITH  MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  475 

I  let  him  go  on  spreadin'  such  a  thing  of  me  ? 
Don't  I  owe  my  own  honesty  something  better 
than  that  ?  Would  I  sit  down  in  a  corner  rubbin' 
my  honesty  and  whisperin'  to  it,  '  There !  there ! 
I  know  you  ain't  a  thief '  ?  No,  seh ;  not  a  lit 
tle  bit !  What  men  say  about  my  nature  is  not 
just  merely  an  outside  thing.  For  the  fact  that  I 
let  'em  keep  on  sayin'  it  is  a  proof  I  don't  value 
my  nature  enough  to  shield  it  from  their  slander 
and  give  them  their  punishment.  And  that's  be 
ing  a  poor  sort  of  a  jay." 

She  had  grown  very  white. 

"  Can't  yu'  see  how  it  must  be  about  a  man  ?  " 
he  repeated. 

"  I  cannot,"  she  answered,  in  a  voice  that 
scarcely  seemed  her  own.  "  If  I  ought  to,  I  can 
not.  To  shed  blood  in  cold  blood.  When  I 
heard  about  that  last  fall,  —  about  the  killing  of 
those  cattle  thieves,  —  I  kept  saying  to  myself : 
1  He  had  to  do  it.  It  was  a  public  duty.'  And 
lying  sleepless  I  got  used  to  Wyoming  being  dif 
ferent  from  Vermont.  But  this  —  "  she  gave  a 
shudder  — "  when  I  think  of  to-morrow,  of  you 
and  me,  and  of —  If  you  do  this,  there  can  be  no 
to-morrow  for  you  and  me." 

At  these  words  he  also  turned  white. 

"  Do  you  mean  — "  he  asked,  and  could  go 
no  farther. 

Nor  could  she  answer  him,  but  turned  her  head 
away. 

"  This  would  be  the  end  ?  "  he  asked. 

Her  head  faintly  moved  to  signify  yes. 

He  stood  still,  his  hand  shaking  a  little.  "  Will 
you  look  at  me  and  say  that  ? "  he  murmured  at 


476  THE  VIRGINIAN 

length.  She  did  not  move.  "  Can  you  do  it  ? " 
he  said. 

His  sweetness  made  her  turn,  but  could  not 
pierce  her  frozen  resolve.  She  gazed  at  him 
across  the  great  distance  of  her  despair. 

u  Then  it  is  really  so  ?  "  he  said. 

Her  lips  tried  to  form  words,  but  failed. 

He  looked  out  of  the  window,  and  saw  nothing 
but  shadow.  The  blue  of  the  mountains  was  now 
become  a  deep  purple.  Suddenly  his  hand  closed 
hard. 

"  Good-by,  then,"  he  said. 

At  that  word  she  was  at  his  feet,  clutching 
him.  "  For  my  sake,"  she  begged  him.  "  For 
my  sake." 

A  tremble  passed  through  his  frame.  She  felt 
his  legs  'shake  as  she  held  them,  and,  looking  up, 
she  saw  that  his  eyes  were  closed  with  misery. 
Then  he  opened  them,  and  in  their  steady  look 
she  read  her  answer.  He  unclasped  her  hands 
from  holding  him,  and  raised  her  to  her  feet. 

"  I  have  no  right  to  kiss  you  any  more,"  he 
said.  And  then,  before  his  desire  could  break  him 
down  from  this,  he  was  gone,  and  she  was  alone. 

She  did  not  fall,  or  totter,  but  stood  motionless. 
And  next  —  it  seemed  a  moment  and  it  seemed 
eternity  —  she  heard  in  the  distance  a  shot,  and 
then  two  shots.  Out  of  the  window  she  saw  peo 
ple  beginning  to  run.  At  that  she  turned  and 
fled  to  her  room,  and  flung  herself  face  downward 
upon  the  floor. 

Trampas  had  departed  into  solitude  from  the 
saloon,  leaving  behind  him  his  ultimatum.  His 


"  '  For  my  sake,'  she  begged  him,  '  for  my  sake.' '" 


WITH   MALICE  AFORETHOUGHT  477 

loud  and  public  threat  was  town  knowledge 
already,  would  very  likely  be  county  knowledge 
to-night.  Riders  would  take  it  with  them  to 
entertain  distant  cabins  up  the  river  and  down 
the  river ;  and  by  dark  the  stage  would  go  south 
with  the  news  of  it  —  and  the  news  of  its  out 
come.  For  everything  would  be  over  by  dark. 
After  five  years,  here  was  the  end  coming  —  com 
ing  before  dark.  Trampas  had  got  up  this  morn 
ing  with  no  such  thought.  It  seemed  very 
strange  to  look  back  upon  the  morning;  it  lay  so 
distant,  so  irrevocable.  And  he  thought  of  how 
he  had  eaten  his  breakfast.  How  would  he  eat 
his  supper?  For  supper  would  come  afterward. 
Some  people  were  eating  theirs  now,  with  noth 
ing  like  this  before  them.  His  heart  ached  and 
grew  cold  to  think  of  them,  easy  and  comfortable 
with  plates  and  cups  of  coffee. 

He  looked  at  the  mountains,  and  saw  the  sun 
above  their  ridges,  and  the  shadow  coming  from 
their  feet.  And  there  close  behind  him  was  the 
morning  he  could  never  go  back  to.  He  could 
see  it  clearly;  his  thoughts  reached  out  like  arms 
to  touch  it  once  more,  and  be  in  it  again.  The 
night  that  was  coming  he  could  not  see,  and  his 
eyes  and  his  thoughts  shrank  from  it.  He  had 
given  his  enemy  until  sundown.  He  could  not 
trace  the  path  which  had  led  him  to  this.  He  re 
membered  their  first  meeting  —  five  years  back,  in 
Medicine  Bow,  and  the  words  which  at  once  began 
his  hate.  No,  it  was  before  any  words ;  it  was  the 
encounter  of  their  eyes.  For  out  of  the  eyes  of 
every  stranger  looks  either  a  friend  or  an  enemy, 
waiting  to  be  known.  But  how  had  five  years  of 


478  THE   VIRGINIAN 

hate  come  to  play  him  such  a  trick,  suddenly,  to 
day?  Since  last  autumn  he  had  meant  some 
time  to  get  even  with  this  man  who  seemed  to 
stand  at  every  turn  of  his  crookedness,  and  rob 
him  of  his  spoils.  But  how  had  he  come  to 
choose  such  a  way  of  getting  even  as  this,  face  to 
face  ?  He  knew  many  better  ways ;  and  now  his 
own  rash  proclamation  had  trapped  him.  His 
words  were  like  doors  shutting  him  in  to  perform 
his  threat  to  the  letter,  with  witnesses  at  hand  to 
see  that  he  did  so. 

Trampas  looked  at  the  sun  and  the  shadow 
again.  He  had  till  sundown.  The  heart  inside 
him  was  turning  it  round  in  this  opposite  way: 
it  was  to  himself  that  in  his  rage  he  had  given  this 
lessening  margin  of  grace.  But  he  dared  not 
leave  town  in  all  the  world's  sight  after  all  the 
world  had  heard  him.  Even  his  friends  would 
fall  from  him  after  such  an  act.  Could  he  —  the 
thought  actually  came  to  him  —  could  he  strike 
before  the  time  set  ?  But  the  thought  was  use 
less.  Even  if  his  friends  could  harbor  him  after 
such  a  deed,  his  enemies  would  find  him,  and  his 
life  would  be  forfeit  to  a  certainty.  His  own  trap 
was  closing  upon  him. 

He  came  upon  the  main  street,  and  saw  some 
distance  off  the  Virginian  standing  in  talk  with 
the  bishop.  He  slunk  between  two  houses,  and 
cursed  both  of  them.  The  sight  had  been  good 
for  him,  bringing  some  warmth  of  rage  back  to 
his  desperate  heart.  And  he  went  into  a  place 
and  drank  some  whiskey. 

"  In  your  shoes,"  said  the  barkeeper,  "  I'd  be 
afraid  to  take  so  much." 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  479 

But  the  nerves  of  Trampas  were  almost  beyond 
the  reach  of  intoxication,  and  he  swallowed  some 
more,  and  went  out  again.  Presently  he  fell  in 
with  some  of  his  brothers  in  cattle  stealing,  and 
walked  along  with  them  for  a  little. 

"  Well,  it  will  not  be  long  now,"  they  said  to 
him.  And  he  had  never  heard  words  so  desolate. 

"  No,"  he  made  out  to  say ;  "  soon  now."  Their 
cheerfulness  seemed  unearthly  to  him,  and  his 
heart  almost  broke  beneath  it. 

"  We'll  have  one  to  your  success,"  they  suggested. 

So  with  them  he  repaired  to  another  place  ;  and 
the  sight  of  a  man  leaning  against  the  bar  made 
him  start  so  that  they  noticed  him.  Then  he 
saw  that  the  man  was  a  stranger  whom  he  had 
never  laid  eyes  on  till  now. 

"  It  looked  like  Shorty,"  he  said,  and  could  have 
bitten  his  tongue  off. 

"  Shorty  is  quiet  up  in  the  Tetons,"  said  a 
friend.  "  You  don't  want  to  be  thinking  about 
him.  Here's  how !  " 

Then  they  clapped  him  on  the  back  and  he 
left  them.  He  thought  of  his  enemy  and  his  hate, 
beating  his  rage  like  a  failing  horse,  and  treading 
the  courage  of  his  drink.  Across  a  space  he  saw 
Wiggin,  walking  with  McLean  and  Scipio.  They 
were  watching  the  town  to  see  that  his  friends 
made  no  foul  play. 

"  We're  giving  you  a  clear  field,"  said  Wiggin. 

"  This  race  will  not  be  pulled,"  said  McLean. 

"  Be  with  you  at  the  finish,"  said  Scipio. 

And  they  passed  on.  They  did  not  seem  like 
real  people  to  him. 

Trampas  looked  at  the  walls  and  windows  of 


480  THE  VIRGINIAN 

the  houses.  Were  they  real?  Was  he  here, 
walking  in  this  street  ?  Something  had  changed. 
He  looked  everywhere,  and  feeling  it  everywhere, 
wondered  what  this  could  be.  Then  he  knew :  it 
was  the  sun  that  had  gone  entirely  behind  the 
mountains,  and  he  drew  out  his  pistol. 

The  Virginian,  for  precaution,  did  not  walk  out 
of  the  front  door  of  the  hotel.  He  went  through 
back  ways,  and  paused  once.  Against  his  breast 
he  felt  the  wedding  ring  where  he  had  it  sus 
pended  by  a  chain  from  his  neck.  His  hand 
went  up  to  it,  and  he  drew  it  out  and  looked  at 
it.  He  took  it  off  the  chain,  and  his  arm  went 
back  to  hurl  it  from  him  as  far  as  he  could.  But 
he  stopped  and  kissed  it  with  one  sob,  and  thrust 
it  in  his  pocket.  Then  he  walked  out  into  the 
open,  watching.  He  saw  men  here  and  there,  and 
they  let  him  pass  as  before,  without  speaking. 
He  saw  his  three  friends,  and  they  said  no  word 
to  him.  But  they  turned  and  followed  in  his  rear 
at  a  little  distance,  because  it  was  known  that 
Shorty  had  been  found  shot  from  behind.  The 
Virginian  gained  a  position  soon  where  no  one 
could  come  at  him  except  from  in  front ;  and  the 
.sight  of  the  mountains  was  almost  more  than  he 
could  endure,  because  it  was  there  that  he  had 
been  going  to-morrow. 

"  It  is  quite  a  while  after  sunset,"  he  heard  him 
self  say. 

A  wind  seemed  to  blow  his  sleeve  off  his  arm, 
and  he  replied  to  it,  and  saw  Trampas  pitch  for 
ward.  He  saw  Trampas  raise  his  arm  from  the 
ground  and  fall  again,  and  lie  there  this  time, 


WITH   MALICE   AFORETHOUGHT  481 

still.  A  little  smoke  was  rising  from  the  pistol 
on  the  ground,  and  he  looked  at  his  own,  and  saw 
the  smoke  flowing  upward  out  of  it. 

u  I  expect  that's  all,"  he  said  aloud. 

But  as  he  came  nearer  Trampas,  he  covered 
him  with  his  weapon.  He  stopped  a  moment, 
seeing  the  hand  on  the  ground  move.  Two 
fingers  twitched,  and  then  ceased ;  for  it  was  all. 
The  Virginian  stood  looking  down  at  Trampas. 

"  Both  of  mine  hit,"  he  said,  once  more  aloud, 
"  His  must  have  gone  mighty  close  to  my  arm. 
I  told  her  it  would  not  be  me." 

He  had  scarcely  noticed  that  he  was  being 
surrounded  and  congratulated.  His  hand  was 
being  shaken,  and  he  saw  it  was  Scipio  in  tears. 
Scipio's  joy  made  his  heart  like  lead  within  him. 
He  was  near  telling  his  friend  everything,  but  he 
did  not. 

"  If  anybody  wants  me  about  this,"  he  said,  "  I 
will  be  at  the  hotel." 

"  Who'll  want  you  ?  "  said  Scipio.  "  Three  of 
us  saw  his  gun  out."  And  he  vented  his  admira 
tion.  "  You  were  that  cool !  That  quick  !  " 

"  I'll  see  you  boys  again,"  said  the  Virginian, 
heavily;  and  he  walked  away. 

Scipio  looked  after  him,  astonished.  "  Yu'  might 
suppose  he  was  in  poor  luck,"  he  said  to  McLean. 

The  Virginian  walked  to  the.  hotel,  and  stood 
on  the  threshold  of  his  sweetheart's  room.  She 
had  heard  his  step,  and  was  upon  her  feet. 
Her  lips  were  parted,  and  her  eyes  fixed  on  him, 
nor  did  she  move,  or  speak. 

"  Yu'  have  to  know  it,"  said  he.  "  I  have  killed 
Trampas." 

21 


482  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  Oh,  thank  God  ! "  she  said ;  and  he  found 
her  in  his  arms.  Long  they  embraced  without 
speaking,  and  what  they  whispered  then  with 
their  kisses,  matters  not. 

Thus  did  her  New  England  conscience  battle 
to  the  end,  and,  in  the  end,  capitulate  to  love. 
And  the  next  day,  with  the  bishop's  blessing,  and 
Mrs.  Taylor's  broadest  smile,  and  the  ring  on  her 
finger,  the  Virginian  departed  with  his  bride  into 
the  mountains. 


XXXVI 

AT  DUNBARTON 

FOR  their  first  bridal  camp  he  chose  an  island. 
Long  weeks  beforehand  he  had  thought  of  this 
place,  and  set  his  heart  upon  it.  Once  estab 
lished  in  his  mind,  the  thought  became  a  pic 
ture  that  he  saw  waking  and  sleeping.  He  had 
stopped  at  the  island  many  times  alone,  and  in  all 
seasons  ;  but  at  this  special  moment  of  the  year 
he  liked  it  best.  Often  he  had  added  several 
needless  miles  to  his  journey  that  he  might  finish 
the  day  at  this  point,  might  catch  the  trout  for 
his  supper  beside  a  certain  rock  upon  its  edge, 
and  fall  asleep  hearing  the  stream  on  either  side 
of  him. 

Always  for  him  the  first  signs  that  he  had 
gained  the  true  world  of  the  mountains  began 
at  the  island.  The  first  pine  trees  stood  upon  it ; 
the  first  white  columbine  grew  in  their  shade ;  and 
it  seemed  to  him  that  he  always  met  here  the  first 
of  the  true  mountain  air  —  the  coolness  and  the 
new  fragrance.  Below,  there  were  only  the  cotton- 
woods,  and  the  knolls  and  steep  foot-hills  with 
their  sage-brush,  and  the  great  warm  air  of  the 
plains;  here  at  this  altitude  came  the  definite 
change.  Out  of  the  lower  country  and  its  air 
he  would  urge  his  horse  upward,  talking  to  him 
aloud,  and  promising  fine  pasture  in  a  little  while. 

483 


THE  VIRGINIAN 

Then,  when  at  length  he  had  ridden  abreast  of 
the  island  pines,  he  would  ford  to  the  sheltered 
circle  of  his  camp-ground,  throw  off  the  saddle 
and  blanket  from  the  horse's  hot,  wet  back,  throw 
his  own  clothes  off,  and,  shouting,  spring  upon  the 
horse  bare,  and  with  a  rope  for  bridle,  cross  with 
him  to  the  promised  pasture.  Here  there  was  a 
pause  in  the  mountain  steepness,  a  level  space  of 
open,  green  with  thick  grass.  Riding  his  horse 
to  this,  he  would  leap  off  him,  and  with  the  flat 
of  his  hand  give  him  a  blow  that  cracked  sharp 
in  the  stillness  and  sent  the  horse  galloping  and 
gambolling  to  his  night's  freedom.  And  while 
the  animal  rolled  in  the  grass,  often  his  master 
would  roll  also,  and  stretch,  and  take  the  grass 
in  his  two  hands,  and  so  draw  his  body  along, 
limbering  his  muscles  after  a  long  ride.  Then 
he  would  slide  into  the  stream  below  his  fishing 
place,  where  it  was  deep  enough  for  swimming, 
and  cross  back  to  his  island,  and  dressing  again, 
fit  his  rod  together  and  begin  his  casting.  After 
the  darkness  had  set  in,  there  would  follow  the 
lying  drowsily  with  his  head  upon  his  saddle, 
the  camp-fire  sinking  as  he  watched  it,  and  sleep 
approaching  to  the  murmur  of  the  water  on  either 
side  of  him. 

So  many  visits  to  this  island  had  he  made,  and 
counted  so  many  hours  of  revery  spent  in  its 
haunting  sweetness,  that  the  spot  had  come  to 
seem  his  own.  It  belonged  to  no  man,  for  it  was 
deep  in  the  unsurveyed  and  virgin  wilderness ; 
neither  had  he  ever  made  his  camp  here  with  any 
man,  nor  shared  with  any  the  intimate  delight 
which  the  place  gave  him.  Therefore  for  many 


AT   DUNBARTON  485 

weeks  he  had  planned  to  bring  her  here  after 
their  wedding,  upon  the  day  itself,  and  show  her 
and  share  with  her  his  pines  and  his  fishing  rock. 
He  would  bid  her  smell  the  first  true  breath  of 
the  mountains,  would  watch  with  her  the  sinking 
camp-fire,  and  with  her  listen  to  the  water  as  it 
flowed  round  the  island. 

Until  this  wedding  plan,  it  had  by  no  means 
come  home  to  him  how  deep  a  hold  upon  him  the 
island  had  taken.  He  knew  that  he  liked  to  go 
there,  and  go  alone ;  but  so  little  was  it  his  way 
to  scan  himself,  his  mind,  or  his  feelings  (unless 
some  action  called  for  it),  that  he  first  learned  his 
love  of  the  place  through  his  love  of  her.  But  he 
told  her  nothing  of  it.  After  the  thought  of  tak 
ing  her  there  came  to  him,  he  kept  his  island  as 
something  to  let  break  upon  her  own  eyes,  lest 
by  looking  forward  she  should  look  for  more  than 
the  reality. 

Hence,  as  they  rode  along,  when  the  houses  of 
the  town  were  shrunk  to  dots  behind  them,  and 
they  were  nearing  the  gates  of  the  foot-hills,  she 
asked  him  questions.  She  hoped  they  would 
find  a  camp  a  long  way  from  the  town.  She 
could  ride  as  many  miles  as  necessary.  She  was 
not  tired.  Should  they  not  go  on  until  they  found 
a  good  place  far  enough  within  the  solitude  ? 
Had  he  fixed  upon  any  ?  And  at  the  nod  and 
the  silence  that  he  gave  her  for  reply,  she  knew 
that  he  had  thoughts  and  intentions  which  she 
must  wait  to  learn. 

They  passed  through  the  gates  of  the  foot-hills, 
following  the  stream  up  among  them.  The  out 
stretching  fences  and  the  widely  trodden  dust 


486  THE   VIRGINIAN 

were  no  more.  Now  and  then  they  rose  again 
into  view  of  the  fields  and  houses  down  in  the 
plain  below.  But  as  the  sum  of  the  miles  and 
hours  grew,  they  were  glad  to  see  the  road  less 
worn  with  travel,  and  the  traces  of  men  passing 
from  sight.  The  ploughed  and  planted  country, 
that  quilt  of  many-colored  harvests  which  they  had 
watched  yesterday,  lay  in  another  world  from  this 
where  they  rode  now.  No  hand  but  nature's  had 
sown  these  crops  of  yellow  flowers,  these  willow 
thickets  and  tall  cottonwoods.  Somewhere  in  a 
passage  of  red  rocks  the  last  sign  of  wagon  wheels 
was  lost,  and  after  this  the  trail  became  a  wild 
mountain  trail.  But  it  was  still  the  warm  air  of 
the  plains,  bearing  the  sage-brush  odor  and  not 
the  pine,  that  they  breathed ;  nor  did  any  forest 
yet  cloak  the  shapes  of  the  tawny  hills  among 
which  they  were  ascending.  Twice  the  steepness 
loosened  the  pack  ropes,  and  he  jumped  down  to 
tighten  them,  lest  the  horses  should  get  sore  backs. 
And  twice  the  stream  that  they  followed  went 
into  deep  canons,  so  that  for  a  while  they  parted 
from  it.  When  they  came  back  to  its  margin  for 
the  second  time,  he  bade  her  notice  how  its  water 
had  become  at  last  wholly  clear.  To  her  it  had 
seemed  clear  enough  all  along,  even  in  the  plain 
above  the  town.  But  now  she  saw  that  it  flowed 
lustrously  with  flashes ;  and  she  knew  the  soil  had 
changed  to  mountain  soil.  Lower  down,  the 
water  had  carried  the  slightest  cloud  of  alkali,  and 
this  had  dulled  the  keen  edge  of  its  transparence. 
Full  solitude  was  around  them  now,  so  that  their 
words  grew  scarce,  and  when  they  spoke  it  was 
with  low  voices.  They  began  to  pass  nooks  and 


AT  DUNBARTON  487 

points  favorable  for  camping,  with  wood  and  water 
at  hand,  and  pasture  for  the  horses.  More  than 
once  as  they  reached  such  places,  she  thought  he 
must  surely  stop ;  but  still  he  rocle  on  in  advance 
of  her  (for  the  trail  was  narrow)  until,  when  she 
was  not  thinking  of  it,  he  drew  rein  and  pointed. 

"  What  ?  "  she  asked  timidly. 

"  The  pines,"  he  answered. 

She  looked,  and  saw  the  island,  and  the  water 
folding  it  with  ripples  and  with  smooth  spaces. 
The  sun  was  throwing  upon  the  pine  boughs  a 
light  of  deepening  red  gold,  and  the  shadow  of 
the  fishing  rock  lay  over  a  little  bay  of  quiet  water 
and  sandy  shore.  In  this  forerunning  glow  of  the 
sunset,  the  pasture  spread  like  emerald ;  for  the 
dry  touch  of  summer  had  not  yet  come  near  it. 
He  pointed  upward  to  the  high  mountains  which 
they  had  approached,  and  showed  her  where  the 
stream  led  into  their  first  unfoldings. 

"  To-morrow  we  shall  be  among  them,"  said  he. 

"  Then,"  she  murmured  to  him,  "  to-night  is 
here  ? " 

He  nodded  for  answer,  and  she  gazed  at  the 
island  and  understood  why  he  had  not  stopped 
before ;  nothing  they  had  passed  had  been  so 
lovely  as  this  place. 

There  was  room  in  the  trail  for  them  to  go 
side  by  side ;  and  side  by  side  they  rode  to  the 
ford  and  crossed,  driving  the  packhorses  in  front 
of  them,  until  they  came  to  the  sheltered  circle, 
and  he  helped  her  down  where  the  soft  pine 
needles  lay.  They  felt  each  other  tremble,  and 
for  a  moment  she  stood  hiding  her  head  upon  his 
breast.  Then  she  looked  round  at  the  trees,  and 


488  THE   VIRGINIAN 

the  shores,  and  the  flowing  stream,  and  he  heard 
her  whispering  how  beautiful  it  was. 

"  I  am  glad,"  he  said,  still  holding  her.  "  This 
is  how  I  have  dreamed  it  would  happen.  Only  it 
is  better  than  my  dreams."  And  when  she  pressed 
him  in  silence,  he  finished,  "  I  have  meant  we 
should  see  our  first  sundown  here,  and  our  first 


sunrise." 


She  wished  to  help  him  take  the  packs  from 
their  horses,  to  make  the  camp  together  with  him, 
to  have  for  her  share  the  building  of  the  fire,  and 
the  cooking.  She  bade  him  remember  his  promise 
to  her  that  he  would  teach  her  how  to  loop  and 
draw  the  pack-ropes,  and  the  swing-ropes  on  the 
pack-saddles,  and  how  to  pitch  a  tent.  Why 
might  not  the  first  lesson  be  now  ?  But  he  told 
her  that  this  should  be  fulfilled  later.  This  night 
he  was  to  do  all  himself.  And  he  sent  her  away 
until  he  should  have  camp  ready  for  them.  He 
bade  her  explore  the  island,  or  take  her  horse  and 
ride  over  to  the  pasture,  where  she  could  see  the 
surrounding  hills  and  the  circle  of  seclusion  that 
they  made. 

"  The  whole  world  is  far  from  here,"  he  said. 
And  so  she  obeyed  him,  and  went  away  to  wander 
about  in  their  hiding-place ;  nor  was  she  to  return, 
he  told  her,  until  he  called  her. 

Then  at  once,  as  soon  as  she  was  gone,  he  fell 
to.  The  packs  and  saddles  came  off  the  horses, 
which  he  turned  loose  upon  the  pasture  on  the 
main  land.  The  tent  was  unfolded  first.  He 
had  long  seen  in  his  mind  where  it  should  go, 
and  how  its  white  shape  would  look  beneath  the 
green  of  the  encircling  pines.  The  ground  was 


AT   DUNBARTON  489 

level  in  the  spot  he  had  chosen,  without  stones  or 
roots,  and  matted  with  the  fallen  needles  of  the 
pines.  If  there  should  come  any  wind,  or  storm  of 
rain,  the  branches  were  thick  overhead,  and  around 
them  on  three  sides  tall  rocks  and  undergrowth 
made  a  barrier.  He  cut  the  pegs  for  the  tent, 
and  the  front  pole,  stretching  and  tightening  the 
rope,  one  end  of  it  pegged  down  and  one  round  a 
pine  tree.  When  the  tightening  rope  had  lifted 
the  canvas  to  the  proper  height  from  the  ground, 
he  spread  and  pegged  down  the  sides  and  back, 
leaving  the  opening  so  that  they  could  look  out 
upon  the  fire  and  a  piece  of  the  stream  beyond. 
He  cut  tufts  of  young  pine  and  strewed  them 
thickly  for  a  soft  floor  in  the  tent,  and  over  them 
spread  the  buffalo  hide  and  the  blankets.  At  the 
head  he  placed  the  neat  sack  of  her  belongings. 
For  his  own  he  made  a  shelter  with  crossed  poles 
and  a  sheet  of  canvas  beyond  the  first  pines.  He 
built  the  fire  where  its  smoke  would  float  outward 
from  the  trees  and  the  tent,  and  near  it  he  stood 
the  cooking  things  and  his  provisions,  and  made 
this  first  supper  ready  in  the  twilight.  He  had 
brought  much  with  him ;  but  for  ten  minutes  he 
fished,  catching  trout  enough.  When  at  length 
she  came  riding  over  the  stream  at  his  call,  there 
was  nothing  for  her  to  do  but  sit  and  eat  at  the 
table  he  had  laid.  They  sat  together,  watching 
the  last  of  the  twilight  and  the  gentle  oncoming 
of  the  dusk.  The  final  after-glow  of  day  left  the 
sky,  and  through  the  purple  which  followed  it 
came  slowly  the  first  stars,  bright  and  wide  apart. 
They  watched  the  spaces  between  them  fill  with 
more  stars,  while  near  them  the  flames  and  embers 


490  THE   VIRGINIAN 


of  their  fire  grew  brighter.  Then  he  sent  her  to 
the  tent  while  he  cleaned  the  dishes  and  visited 
the  horses  to  see  that  they  did  not  stray  from  the 
pasture.  Some  while  after  the  darkness  was  fully 
come,  he  rejoined  her.  All  had  been  as  he  had 
seen  it  in  his  thoughts  beforehand  :  the  pines  with 
the  setting  sun  upon  them,  the  sinking  camp-fire, 
and  now  the  sound  of  the  water  as  it  flowed  mur 
muring  by  the  shores  of  the  island. 

The  tent  opened  to  the  east,  and  from  it  they 
watched  together  their  first  sunrise.  In  his 
thoughts  he  had  seen  this  morning  beforehand 
also :  the  waking,  the  gentle  sound  of  the  water 
murmuring  ceaselessly,  the  growing  day,  the 
vision  of  the  stream,  the  sense  that  the  world  was 
shut  away  far  from  them.  So  did  it  all  happen, 
except  that  he  whispered  to  her  again :  — 

"  Better  than  my  dreams." 

They  saw  the  sunlight  begin  upon  a  hilltop ; 
and  presently  came  the  sun  itself,  and  lakes  of 
warmth  flowed  into  the  air,  slowly  filling  the 
green  solitude.  Along  the  island  shores  the  rip 
ples  caught  flashes  from  the  sun. 

"  I  am  going  into  the  stream,"  he  said  to  her; 
and  rising,  he  left  her  in  the  tent.  This  was  his 
side  of  the  island,  he  had  told  her  last  night; 
the  other  was  hers,  where  he  had  made  a  place 
for  her  to  bathe.  When  he  was  gone,  she  found 
it,  walking  through  the  trees  and  rocks  to  the 
water's  edge.  And  so,  with  the  island  between 
them,  the  two  bathed  in  the  cold  stream.  When 
he  came  back,  he  found  her  already  busy  at  their 
camp.  The  blue  smoke  of  the  fire  was  floating 
out  from  the  trees,  loitering  undispersed  in  the 


AT   DUNBARTON  491 

quiet  air,  and  she  was  getting  their  breakfast. 
She  had  been  able  to  forestall  him  because  he 
had  delayed  long  at  his  dressing,  not  willing  to 
return  to  her  unshaven.  She  looked  at  his  eyes 
that  were  clear  as  the  water  he  had  leaped  into, 
and  at  his  soft  silk  neckerchief,  knotted  with  care. 

"Do  not  let  us  ever  go  away  from  here ! "  she 
cried,  and  ran  to  him  as  he  came. 

They  sat  long  together  at  breakfast,  breathing 
the  morning  breath  of  the  earth  that  was  fragrant 
with  woodland  moisture  and  with  the  pines. 
After  the  meal  he  could  not  prevent  her  help 
ing  him  make  everything  clean.  Then,  by  all 
customs  of  mountain  journeys,  it  was  time  they 
should  break  camp  and  be  moving  before  the 
heat  of  the  day.  But  first,  they  delayed  for  no 
reason,  save  that  in  these  hours  they  so  loved  to 
do  nothing.  And  next,  when  with  some  energy 
he  got  upon  his  feet  and  declared  he  must  go 
and  drive  the  horses  in,  she  asked,  Why?  Would 
it  not  be  well  for  him  to  fish  here,  that  they  might 
be  sure  of  trout  at  their  nooning?  And  though 
he  knew  that  where  they  should  stop  for  noon, 
trout  would  be  as  sure  as  here,  he  took  this 
chance  for  more  delay. 

She  went  with  him  to  his  fishing  rock,  and  sat 
watching  him.  The  rock  was  tall,  higher  than 
his  head  when  he  stood.  It  jutted  out  halfway 
across  the  stream,  and  the  water  flowed  round  it 
in  quick  foam,  and  fell  into  a  pool.  He  caught 
several  fish ;  but  the  sun  was  getting  high,  and 
after  a  time  it  was  plain  the  fish  had  ceased  to  rise. 

Yet  still  he  stood  casting  in  silence,  while  she 
sat  by  and  watched  him.  Across  the  stream,  the 


492  THE  VIRGINIAN 

horses  wandered  or  lay  down  in  their  pasture.  At 
length  he  said  with  half  a  sigh  that  perhaps  they 
ought  to  go. 

"  Ought  ?  "  she  repeated  softly. 

"  If  we  are  to  get  anywhere  to-day,"  he  answered. 

"  Need  we  get  anywhere  ?  "  she  asked. 

Her  question  sent  delight  through  him  like  a 
flood.  "  Then  you  do  not  want  to  move  camp 
to-day  ?  "  said  he. 

She  shook  her  head. 

At  this  he  laid  down  his  rod  and  came  and  sat 
by  her.  "  I  am  very  glad  we  shall  not  go  till  to 
morrow,"  he  murmured. 

"  Not  to-morrow,"  she  said.  "  Nor  next  day. 
Nor  any  day  until  we  must."  And  she  stretched 
her  hands  out  to  the  island  and  the  stream 
exclaiming,  "  Nothing  can  surpass  this!  " 

He  took  her  in  his  arms.  "  You  feel  about  it 
the  way  I  do,"  he  almost  whispered.  "  I  could 
not  have  hoped  there'd  be  two  of  us  to  care  so 
much." 

Presently,  while  they  remained  without  speak 
ing  by  the  pool,  came  a  little  wild  animal  swim 
ming  round  the  rock  from  above.  It  had  not 
seen  them,  nor  suspected  their  presence.  They 
held  themselves  still,  watching  its  alert  head  cross 
through  the  waves  quickly  and  come  down 
through  the  pool,  and  so  swim  to  the  other  side. 
There  it  came  out  on  a  small  stretch  of  sand, 
turned  its  gray  head  and  its  pointed  black  nose 
this  way  and  that,  never  seeing  them,  and  then 
rolled  upon  its  back  in  the  warm  dry  sand.  After 
a  minute  of  rolling,  it  got  on  its  feet  again,  shook 
its  fur,  and  trotted  away. 


AT  DUNBARTON  493 

Then  the  bridegroom  husband  opened  his  shy 
heart  deep  down. 

"  I  am  like  that  fellow,"  he  said  dreamily.  "  I 
have  often  done  the  same."  And  stretching 
slowly  his  arms  and  legs,  he  lay  full  length  upon 
his  back,  letting  his  head  rest  upon  her.  "  If  I 
could  talk  his  animal  language,  I  could  talk  to 
him,"  he  pursued.  "  And  he  would  say  to  me : 
'  Come  and  roll  on  the  sands.  Where's  the  use 
of  fretting  ?  What's  the  gain  in  being  a  man  ? 
Come  roll  on  the  sands  with  me.'  That's  what 
he  would  say."  The  Virginian  paused.  "  But," 
he  continued,  "the  trouble  is,  I  am  responsible. 
If  that  could  only  be  forgot  forever  by  you  and 
me ! "  Again  he  paused  and  went  on,  always 
dreamily.  "  Often  when  I  have  camped  here,  it 
has  made  me  want  to  become  the  ground,  become 
the  water,  become  the  trees,  mix  with  the  whole 
thing.  Not  know  myself  from  it.  Never  unmix 
again.  Why  is  that?"  he  demanded,  looking  at 
her.  "  What  is  it  ?  You  don't  know,  nor  I 
don't.  I  wonder  would  everybody  feel  that  way 
here?" 

"  I  think  not  everybody,"  she  answered. 

"  No ;  none  except  the  ones  who  understand 
things  they  can't  put  words  to.  But  you  did  ! " 
He  put  up  a  hand  and  touched  her  softly.  "  You 
understood  about  this  place.  And  that's  what 
makes  it  —  makes  you  and  me  as  we  are  now  — 
better  than  my  dreams.  And  my  dreams  were 
pretty  good." 

He  sighed  with  supreme  quiet  and  happiness, 
and  seemed  to  stretch  his  length  closer  to  the 
earth.  And  so  he  lay,  and  talked  to  her  as  he 


494  THE   VIRGINIAN 

had  never  talked  to  any  one,  not  even  to  himself. 
Thus  she  learned  secrets  of  his  heart  new  to  her : 
his  visits  here,  what  they  were  to  him,  and  why 
he  had  chosen  it  for  their  bridal  camp.  "  What  I 
did  not  know  at  all,"  he  said,  "  was  the  way  a  man 
can  be  pining  for  —  for  this  —  and  never  guess 
what  is  the  matter  with  him." 

When  he  had  finished  talking,  still  he  lay  ex 
tended  and  serene ;  and  she  looked  down  at  him 
and  the  wonderful  change  that  had  come  over 
him,  like  a  sunrise.  Was  this  dreamy  boy  the 
man  of  two  days  ago  ?  It  seemed  a  distance  im 
measurable  ;  yet  it  was  two  days  only  since  that 
wedding  eve  when  she  had  shrunk  from  him  as 
he  stood  fierce  and  implacable.  She  could  look 
back  at  that  dark  hour  now,  although  she  could 
not  speak  of  it.  She  had  seen  destruction  like 
sharp  steel  glittering  in  his  eyes.  Were  these  the 
same  eyes?  Was  this  youth  with  his  black  head 
of  hair  in  her  lap  the  creature  with  whom  men  did 
not  trifle,  whose  hand  knew  how  to  deal  death  ? 
Where  had  the  man  melted  away  to  in  this  boy  ? 
For  as  she  looked  at  him,  he  might  have  been  no 
older  than  nineteen  to-day.  Not  even  at  their 
first  meeting  —  that  night  when  his  freakish  spirit 
was  uppermost  —  had  he  looked  so  young.  This 
change  their  hours  upon  the  island  had  wrought, 
filling  his  face  with  innocence. 

By  and  by  they  made  their  nooning.  In  the 
afternoon  she  would  have  explored  the  nearer 
woods  with  him,  or  walked  up  the  stream.  But 
since  this  was  to  be  their  camp  during  several 
days,  he  made  it  more  complete.  He  fashioned  a 
rough  bench  and  a  table;  around  their  tent  he 


AT   DUNBARTON 


495 


built  a  tall  wind-break  for  better  shelter  in  case 
of  storm ;  and  for  the  fire  he  gathered  and  cut 
much  wood,  and  piled  it  up.  So  they  were  pro 
vided  for,  and  so  for  six  days  and  nights  they 
stayed,  finding  no  day  or  night  long  enough. 

Once  his  hedge  of  boughs  did  them  good  ser 
vice,  for  they  had  an  afternoon  of  furious  storm. 
The  wind  rocked  the  pines  and  ransacked  the 
island,  the  sun  went  out,  the  black  clouds  rattled, 
and  white  bolts  of  lightning  fell  close  by.  The 
shower  broke  through  the  pine  branches  and 
poured  upon  the  tent.  But  he  had  removed 
everything  inside  from  where  it  could  touch  the 
canvas  and  so  lead  the  water  through,  and  the 
rain  ran  off  into  the  ditch  he  had  dug  round 
the  tent.  While  they  sat  within,  looking  out 
upon  the  bounding  floods  and  the  white  lightning, 
she  saw  him  glance  at  her  apprehensively,  and  at 
once  she  answered  his  glance. 

"  I  am  not  afraid,"  she  said.  "  If  a  flame  should 
consume  us  together  now,  what  would  it  matter?" 

And  so  they  sat  watching  the  storm  till  it  was 
over,  he  with  his  face  changed  by  her  to  a  boy's, 
and  she  leavened  with  him. 

When  at  last  they  were  compelled  to  leave  the 
island,  or  see  no  more  of  the  mountains,  it  was 
not  a  final  parting.  They  would  come  back  for 
the  last  night  before  their  journey  ended.  Fur 
thermore,  they  promised  each  other  like  two 
children  to  come  here  every  year  upon  their  wed 
ding  day,  and  like  two  children  they  believed  that 
this  would  be  possible.  But  in  after  years  they 
did  come,  more  than  once,  to  keep  their  wedding 
day  upo.n  the  island,  and  upon  each  new  visit 


496  THE   VIRGINIAN 

were  able  to  say  to  each  other,  "  Better  than  our 
dreams." 

For  thirty  days  by  the  light  of  the  sun  and  the 
camp-fire  light  they  saw  no  faces  except  their 
own ;  and  when  they  were  silent  it  was  all  still 
ness,  unless  the  wind  passed  among  the  pines,  or 
some  flowing  water  was  near  them.  Sometimes 
at  evening  they  came  upon  elk,  or  black-tailed 
deer,  feeding  out  in  the  high  parks  of  the  moun 
tains;  and  once  from  the  edge  of  some  conceal 
ing  timber  he  showed  her  a  bear,  sitting  with  an 
old  log  lifted  in  its  paws.  She  forbade  him  to 
kill  the  bear,  or  any  creature  that  they  did  not 
require.  He  took  her  upward  by  trail  and  canon, 
through  the  unfooted  woods  and  along  dwindling 
streams  to  their  headwaters,  lakes  lying  near  the 
summit  of  the  range,  full  of  trout,  with  meadows 
of  long  grass  and  a  thousand  flowers,  and  above 
these  the  pinnacles  of  rock  and  snow. 

They  made  their  camps  in  many  places,  delay 
ing  several  days  here,  and  one  night  there,  ex 
ploring  the  high  solitudes  together,  and  sinking 
deep  in  their  romance.  Sometimes  when  he  was 
at  work  with  their  horses,  or  intent  on  casting  his 
brown  hackle  for  a  fish,  she  would  watch  him  with 
eyes  that  were  fuller  of  love  than  of  understand 
ing.  Perhaps  she  never  came  wholly  to  under 
stand  him ;  but  in  her  complete  love  for  him  she 
found  enough.  He  loved  her  with  his  whole 
man's  power.  She  had  listened  to  him  tell  her 
in  words  of  transport,  "  I  could  enjoy  dying "  ; 
yet  she  loved  him  more  than  that.  He  had  come 
to  her  from  a  smoking  pistol,  able  to  bid  her  fare 
well —  and  she  could  not  let  him  go.  At  the 


AT   DUNBARTON  497 

last  white-hot  edge  of  ordeal,  it  was  she  who  re 
nounced,  and  he  who  had  his  way.  Nevertheless 
she  found  much  more  than  enough,  in  spite  of 
the  sigh  that  now  and  again  breathed  through 
her  happiness  when  she  would  watch  him  with 
eyes  fuller  of  love  than  of  understanding. 

They  could  not  speak  of  that  grim  wedding  eve 
for  a  long  while  after;  but  the  mountains  brought 
them  together  upon  all  else  in  the  world  and  their 
own  lives.  At  the  end  they  loved  each  other 
doubly  more  than  at  the  beginning,  because  of 
these  added  confidences  which  they  exchanged  and 
shared.  It  was  a  new  bliss  to  her  to  know  a  man's 
talk  and  thoughts,  to  be  given  so  much  of  him ; 
and  to  him  it  was  a  bliss  still  greater  to  melt 
from  that  reserve  his  lonely  life  had  bred  in  him. 
He  never  would  have  guessed  so  much  had  been 
stored  away  in  him,  unexpressed  till  now.  They 
did  not  want  to  go  to  Vermont  and  leave  these 
mountains,  but  the  day  came  when  they  had  to 
turn  their  backs  upon  their  dream.  So  they 
came  out  into  the  plains  once  more,  well  estab 
lished  in  their  familiarity,  with  only  the  journey 
still  lying  between  themselves  and  Bennington. 

"  If  you  could,"  she  said,  laughing.  "  If  only 
you  could  ride  home  like  this." 

"  With  Monte  and  my  six-shooter  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  To  your  mother  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  mother  could  resist  the  way  you 
look  on  a  horse." 

But  he  said,  "  It  is  this  way  she's  fearing  I 
will  come." 

"  I  have  made  one  discovery,"  she  said.  "  You 
are  fonder  of  good  clothes  than  I  am." 


2K 


498  THE   VIRGINIAN 

He  grinned.  "  I  cert'nly  like  'em.  But  don't 
tell  my  friends.  They  would  say  it  was  marriage. 
When  you  see  what  I  have  got  for  Bennington's 
special  benefit,  you  —  why,  you'll  just  trust  your 
husband  more  than  ever." 

She  undoubtedly  did.  After  he  had  put  on 
one  particular  suit,  she  arose  and  kissed  him 
where  he  stood  in  it. 

"  Bennington  will  be  sorrowful,"  he  said.  "  No 
wild- west  show,  after  all.  And  no  ready-made 
guy,  either."  And  he  looked  at  himself  in  the 
glass  with  unhidden  pleasure. 

"  How  did  you  choose  that?"  she  asked.  "  How 
did  you  know  that  homespun  was  exactly  the 
thing  for  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  have  been  noticing.  I  used  to  despise 
an  Eastern  man  because  his  clothes  were  not 
Western.  I  was  very  young  then,  or  maybe 
not  so  very  young,  as  very  —  as  what  you  saw  I 
was  when  you  first  came  to  Bear  Creek.  A 
Western  man  is  a  good  thing.  And  he  generally 
knows  that.  But  he  has  a  heap  to  learn.  And 
he  generally  don't  know  that.  So  I  took  to  watch 
ing  the  Judge's  Eastern  visitors.  There  was  that 
Mr.  Ogden  especially,  from  New  Yawk  —  the 
gentleman  that  was  there  the  time  when  I  had 
to  sit  up  all  night  with  the  missionary,  yu'  know. 
His  clothes  pleased  me  best  of  all.  Fit  him  so 
well,  and  nothing  flash.  I  got  my  ideas,  and 
when  I  knew  I  was  going  to  marry  you,  I  sent 
mv  measure  East  —  and  I  and  the  tailor  are  old 


my 

enemies  now." 


Bennington   probably  was    disappointed.      To 
see  get  out  of  the  train  merely  a  tall  man  with  a 


AT  DUNBARTON  499 

usual  straw  hat,  and  Scotch  homespun  suit  of  a 
rather  better  cut  than  most  in  Bennington  —  this 
was  dull.  And  his  conversation  —  when  he  in 
dulged  in  any  —  seemed  fit  to  come  inside  the 
house. 

Mrs.  Flynt  took  her  revenge  by  sowing  broad 
cast  her  thankfulness  that  poor  Sam  Bannett  had 
been  Molly's  rejected  suitor.  He  had  done  so 
much  better  for  himself.  Sam  had  married  a 
rich  Miss  Van  Scootzer,  of  the  second  families  of 
Troy ;  and  with  their  combined  riches  this  happy 
couple  still  inhabit  the  most  expensive  residence 
in  Hoosic  Falls. 

But  most  of  Bennington  soon  began  to  say  that 
Molly's  cow-boy  could  be  invited  anywhere  and 
hold  his  own.  The  time  came  when  they  ceased 
to  speak  of  him  as  a  cow-boy,  and  declared  that 
she  had  shown  remarkable  sense.  But  this  was 
not  quite  yet. 

Did  this  bride  and  groom  enjoy  their  visit  to 
her  family?  Well  —  well,  they  did  their  best. 
Everybody  did  their  best,  even  Sarah  Bell.  She 
said  that  she  found  nothing  to  object  to  in  the 
Virginian  ;  she  told  Molly  so.  Her  husband  Sam 
did  better  than  that.  He  told  Molly  he  consid 
ered  that  she  was  in  luck.  And  poor  Mrs.  Wood, 
sitting  on  the  sofa,  conversed  scrupulously  and 
timidly  with  her  novel  son-in-law,  and  said  to 
Molly  that  she  was  astonished  to  find  him  so 
gentle.  And  he  was  undoubtedly  fine-looking; 
yes,  very  handsome.  She  believed  that  she  would 
grow  to  like  the  Southern  accent.  Oh,  yes ! 
Everybody  did  their  best ;  and,  dear  reader,  if 
ever  it  has  been  your  earthly  portion  to  live  with  a 


5oo  THE  VIRGINIAN 

number  of  people  who  were  all  doing  their  best, 
you  do  not  need  me  to  tell  you  what  a  heavenly 
atmosphere  this  creates. 

And  then  the  bride  and  groom  went  to  see  the 
old  great-aunt  over  at  Dunbarton. 

Their  first  arrival,  the  one  at  Bennington,  had 
been  thus :  Sam  Bell  had  met  them  at  the  train, 
and  Mrs.  Wood,  waiting  in  her  parlor,  had  em 
braced  her  daughter  and  received  her  son-in-law. 
Among  them  they  had  managed  to  make  the 
occasion  as  completely  mournful  as  any  family 
party  can  be,  with  the  window  blinds  up.  "  And 
with  you  present,  my  dear,"  said  Sam  Bell  to 
Sarah,  "  the  absence  of  a  coffin  was  not  felt." 

But  at  Dunbarton  the  affair  went  off  differently. 
The  heart  of  the  ancient  lady  had  taught  her  bet 
ter  things.  From  Bennington  to  Dunbarton  is 
the  good  part  of  a  day's  journey,  and  they  drove 
up  to  the  gate  in  the  afternoon.  The  great-aunt 
was  in  her  garden,  picking  some  August  flowers, 
and  she  called  as  the  carriage  stopped,  "  Bring  my 
nephew  here,  my  dear,  before  you  go  into  the  house." 

At  this,  Molly,  stepping  out  of  the  carriage, 
squeezed  her  husband's  hand.  "  I  knew  that  she 
would  be  lovely,"  she  whispered  to  him.  And 
then  she  ran  to  her  aunt's  arms,  and  let  him  fol 
low.  He  came  slowly,  hat  in  hand. 

The  old  lady  advanced  to  meet  him,  trembling 
a  little,  and  holding  out  her  hand  to  him.  "  Wel 
come,  nephew,"  she  said.  "What  a  tall  fellow 
you  are,  to  be  sure.  Stand  off,  sir,  and  let  me 
look  at  you." 

The  Virginian  obeyed,  blushing  from  his  black 
hair  to  his  collar. 


AT   DUNBARTON  501 

Then  his  new  relative  turned  to  her  niece,  and 

fave  her  a  flower.  "  Put  this  in  his  coat,  my 
ear,"  she  said.  "And  I  think  I  understand  why 
you  wanted  to  marry  him." 

After  this  the  maid  came  and  showed  them  to 
their  rooms.  Left  alone  in  her  garden,  the  great- 
aunt  sank  on  a  bench  and  sat  there  for  some 
time ;  for  emotion  had  made  her  very  weak. 

Upstairs,  Molly,  sitting  on  the  Virginian's  knee, 
put  the  flower  in  his  coat,  and  then  laid  her  head 
upon  his  shoulder. 

"  I  didn't  know  old  ladies  could  be  that  way," 
he  said.  "  D'  yu'  reckon  there  are  many  ?  " 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  the  girl.  "I'm  so 
happy ! " 

Now  at  tea,  and  during  the  evening,  the  great- 
aunt  carried  out  her  plans  still  further.  At  first 
she  did  the  chief  part  of  the  talking  herself.  Nor 
did  she  ask  questions  about  Wyoming  too  soon. 
She  reached  that  in  her  own  way,  and  found  out 
the  one  thing  that  she  desired  to  know.  It  was 
through  General  Stark  that  she  led  up  to  it. 

"  There  he  is,"  she  said,  showing  the  family 
portrait.  "  And  a  rough  time  he  must  have  had 
of  it  now  and  then.  New  Hampshire  was  full  of 
fine*  young  men  in  those  days.  But  nowadays 
most  of  them  have  gone  away  to  seek  their  for 
tunes  in  the  West.  Do  they  find  them,  I  wonder  ?  " 

"  Yes,  ma'am.     All  the  good  ones  do." 

"  But  you  cannot  all  be  —  what  is  the  name  ?  — 
Cattle  Kings." 

"  That's  having  its  day,  ma'am,  right  now. 
And  we  are  getting  ready  for  the  change  —  some 
of  us  are." 


502  THE   VIRGINIAN 

"  And  what  may  be  the  change,  and  when  is 
it  to  come  ?  " 

"  When  the  natural  pasture  is  eaten  off,"  he 
explained.  "  I  have  seen  that  coming  a  long 
while.  And  if  the  thieves  are  going  to  make  us 
drive  our  stock  away,  we'll  drive  it.  If  they  don't, 
we'll  have  big  pastures  fenced,  and  hay  and  shel 
ter  ready  for  winter.  What  we'll  spend  in  im 
provements,  we'll  more  than  save  in  wages.  I  am 
well  fixed  for  the  new  conditions.  And  then, 
when  I  took  up  my  land,  I  chose  a  place  where 
there  is  coal.  It  will  not  be  long  before  the  new 
railroad  needs  that." 

Thus  the  old  lady  learned  more  of  her  niece's 
husband  in  one  evening  than  the  Bennington 
family  had  ascertained  during  his  whole  sojourn 
with  them.  For  by  touching  upon  Wyoming 
and  its  future,  she  roused  him  to  talk.  -He  found 
her  mind  alive  to  Western  questions :  irrigation, 
the  Indians,  the  forests;  and  so  he  expanded, 
revealing  to  her  his  wide  observation  and  his 
shrewd  intelligence.  He  forgot  entirely  to  be 
shy.  She  sent  Molly  to  bed,  and  kept  him  talk 
ing  for  an  hour.  Then  she  showed  him  old 
things  that  she  was  proud  of,  "because,"  she 
said,  "  we,  too,  had  something  to  do  with  making 
our  country.  And  now  go  to  Molly,  or  you'll 
both  think  me  a  tiresome  old  lady." 

u  I  think  —  "  he  began,  but  was  not  quite  equal 
to  expressing  what  he  thought,  and  suddenly  his 
shyness  flooded  him  again. 

"  In  that  case,  nephew,"  said  she,  "  I'm  afraid 
you'll  have  to  kiss  me  good  night." 

And  so  she  dismissed  him  to  his  wife,  and  to 


AT   DUMBARTON  503 

happiness  greater  than  either  of  them  had  known 
since  they  had  left  the  mountains  and  come  to 
the  East.  "He'll  do,"  she  said  to  herself,  nod 
ding. 

Their  visit  to  Dumbarton  was  all  happiness  and 
reparation  for  the  doleful  days  at  Bennington. 
The  old  lady  gave  much  comfort  and  advice  to 
her  niece  in  private,  and  when  they  came  to  leave, 
she  stood  at  the  front  door  holding  both  their 
hands  a  moment. 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dears,"  she  told  them. 
"  And  when  you  come  next  time,  I'll  have  the 
nursery  ready." 

And  so  it  happened  that  before  she  left  this 
world,  the  great-aunt  was  able  to  hold  in  her 
arms  the  first  of  their  many  children. 

Judge  Henry  at  Sunk  Creek  had  his  wedding 
present  ready.  His  growing  affairs  in  Wyoming 
needed  his  presence  in  many  places  distant  from 
his  ranch,  and  he  made  the  Virginian  his  partner. 
When  the  thieves  prevailed  at  length,  as  they  did, 
forcing  cattle  owners  to  leave  the  country  or  be 
ruined,  the  Virginian  had  forestalled  this  crash. 
The  herds  were  driven  away  to  Montana.  Then, 
in  1892,  came  the  cattle  war,  when,  after  putting 
their  men  in  office,  and  coming  to  own  some 
of  the  newspapers,  the  thieves  brought  ruin  on 
themselves  as  well.  For  in  a  broken  country 
there  is  nothing  left  to  steal. 

But  the  railroad  came,  and  built  a  branch  to  that 
land  of  the  Virginian's  where  the  coal  was.  By 
that  time  he  was  an  important. man,  with  a  strong 
grip  on  many  various  enterprises,  and  able  to  give 
his  wife  all  and  more  than  she  asked  or  desired. 


504  THE   VIRGINIAN 

Sometimes  she  missed  the  Bear  Creek  days,  when 
she  and  he  had  ridden  together,  and  sometimes 
she  declared  that  his  work  would  kill  him.  But 
it  does  not  seem  to  have  done  so.  Their  eldest 
boy  rides  the  horse  Monte ;  and,  strictly  between 
ourselves,  I  think  his  father  is  going  to  live  a 
long  while. 


Dorothy  Vernon  of  Haddon  Hall 

By  CHARLES  MAJOR 

Author  of  "  When  Knighthood  was  in  Flower,"  etc.,  with  eight 
full-page  illustrations  by  HOWARD  CHANDLER  CHRISTY 

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The  plot  is  centered  round  Haddon  Hall,  famous  in  history 
as  one  of  the  places  which  sheltered  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  dur 
ing  her  captivity.  The  story  itself  is  of  the  romantic  attach 
ment  and  elopement  of  Dorothy  Vernon  and  young  John 
Manners,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  parents  and  guardians. 
The  time  is  around  1560.  The  story  of  the  hero  and  heroine 
has  long  filled  a  romantic  place  in  the  more  personal  annals  of 
Elizabethan  history.  Both  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Stuart  come 
into  the  story,  which  is  set  in  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of 
English  scenery  —  the  hill  country  of  Derbyshire,  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Chatsworth,  beautiful  hills  through  which  flow  the 
Wye  and  the  Derwent.  This  neighborhood  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  in  England.  Not  far  from  it  is  Chatsworth,  where 
Walter  Scott  was  often  seen,  and  where  Byron  met  fair  Mary 
Chaworth,  the  heiress  of  Annesley.  Not  far  to  the  south  of  it 
is  Leehurst,  where  Florence  Nightingale  used  to  live,  while  to 
the  north  of  it  is  the  grave  of  Little  John,  famous  in  the  Robin 
Hood  legend.  Some  of  the  rooms  in  Haddon  Hall  stand 
exactly  as  Dorothy  herself  saw  them  three  hundred  years  ago. 
In  the  state  chamber  still  stands  the  canopied  bed  of  green 
velvet  and  white  satin,  in  which  tradition  says  Queen  Elizabeth 
slept  when  she  visited  Haddon  to  open  the  first  ball  in  the 
new  ball-room  of  that  day. 


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THE  CONQUEROR 

Being  the  true  and  romantic  story  of  Alexander  Hamilton 

By  GERTRUDE  ATHERTON 

Author  of  "  Senator  North,"  "  The  Californians,"  etc.,  etc.  ... 
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"  '  The  Conqueror '  is  well  worth  reading.  In  fact,  if  once 
it  is  started,  it  will  not  be  put  down  until  we  have  rioted  with 
the  author  to  the  last  page.  It  is  a  book  that  is  certain  to 
create  and  hold  interest  and  to  stir  up  much  comment.  It  is 
at  once  daring  and  unconventional,  and  it  flings  tradition  to 
the  winds."  —  Denver  Republican. 

"Realizing  that  Mrs.  Atherton  has  sown  political  dragon's 
teeth,  certain  to  bring  forth  clashing  opinions,  we  can  only 
appreciate  the  fascination  and  vigor  of  her  work.  Upon  the 
whole,  it  is  incomparably  more  illuminating  than  any  mass 
of  non-vitalized  facts  collected  by  the  plodding  historian."  — 
New  York  Times'  Saturday  Review. 

"  Among  the  notable  productions  of  the  year  must  be  reck 
oned  Mrs.  Gertrude  Atherton's  brilliant  character  novel.  In 
intellectual  grasp,  virility,  and  compelling  interest  this  fearless 
author  takes  front  rank."  —  Providence  Telegram. 

"Till  now  there  has  arisen  neither  man  nor  woman  to  do 
what  has  been  done  in  this  exciting  narrative  of  an  exciting 
life  .  .  .  permeated  with  the  passionate  brain  vitality  of  a 
woman  who  can  write  as  well  as  think."  —  Standard  Union, 
Brooklyn. 

"  It  may  start  a  revolution  in  the  methods  of  our  historical 
novelists.  It  is  a  composite  yet  a  splendid  picture."  —  New 
York  Herald.  

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NEW    FICTION 

The  Benefactress 

By  the  Author  of 
"Elizabeth  and  her  German  Garden"  "  The  Solitary  Summer"  etc. 

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A  new  novel  by  this  charming  writer,  who  so  cleverly  kept  the  secret  of 
her  personality,  is  sure  to  be  widely  enjoyed  by  those  who  read  the  entertain 
ing  chronicles  already  issued  of  her  garden  by  the  Baltic,  of  the  three  quaint 
April,  May,  and  June  Babies,  of  the  Man  of  Wrath,  and  of  Elizabeth's  own 
original  ideas. 

"  The  Benefactress  "  is  a  young  English  woman  who  has  a  fortune  left  her 
by  a  German  relative.  She  takes  up  her  property  in  Germany  and  lives  there. 
The  story  of  her  life  in  the  German  village  is  told  with  unfailing  humor,  as 
might  have  been  expected  of  the  woman  who  found  such  a  fund  of  delicious 
entertainment  in  what  would  have  been  to  most  an  exile  of  the  extremest 
dulness. 


The  Real  World 

By  ROBERT    HERRICK 

Author  of  "  The  Gospel  of  Freedom,"  "  The  Web  of  Life,"  etc. 

Cloth,     tamo.     $1.50 

The  chief  woman  in  this  new  novel  by  Mr.  Herrick  is  the  daughter  of  an 
Ohio  manufacturer,  and  the  plot  is  developed  through  the  story  of  a  young 
man's  life.  The  underlying  idea  is  eternally  old :  that  the  world  does  not 
exist  until  created  afresh  for  each  person.  The  way  the  hero  makes  his  own 
world  forms  the  pith  of  the  story,  the  scene  of  which  moves  back  and  forth 
between  the  East  and  the  West. 


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New  Canterbury  Tales 

By  MAURICE    HEWLETT 

Author  of  "Richard  Yea-cmd-Nay,"  "The  Forest  Lovers," 
"  Little  Novels  of  Italy  ^  etc. 

Cloth,     tamo.     $1.50 

"  Each  strikes  a  different  note,  but  each  is  faithful  to  the  taste  of  his  time, 
which  means  a  stout  belief  in  the  Saints,  and  perhaps  as  genuine  a  fear  of 
'  Old  Legion,'  a  delight  in  chivalrous  deeds,  in  mundane  pomp  and  might. 
And  behind  them  is  the  author's  genius  for  the  creation  of  character  and 
drama,  so  that  these  Old  World  fancies,  full  of  the  glamour  of  ancient  legend, 
in  some  cases  all  compact  of  a  curious,  mediaeval  quaintness,  seems  somehow 
extraordinarily  human  and  true."  —  New  York  Tribune. 

"  With  each  successive  volume  there  is  added  proof,  if  such  proof  were 
needed,  that  for  real  fineness  of  touch  and  true  artistic  instinct  Mr.  Hewlett 
stands  quite  by  himself  in  his  country  and  generation." 

—  The  Commercial  Advertiser  (New  York). 


The  New  Americans 

By  ALFRED   HODDER 
Cloth.      1 2  mo.      $1.50 

It  has  been  said  in  derogation  of  the  realism  of  Balzac  that  all  his  drama 
tis  persons  are  people  of  genius,  are  at  least  far  above  the  average  in  energy 
and  intelligence.  The  same  criticism  may  be  brought  against  the  dramatis 
personse  of  this  novel.  The  justification  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  book  deals 
with  the  new  generation  in  the  new  America;  with  their  energy,  their  confi 
dence,  their  audacity,  their  gaiety  and  intelligence,  their  sheer  determination 
"  to  have  their  fling,"  their  sense  that  they  are  the  children  of  a  nation  rising 
in  power.  The  plot  turns  on  the  conflict  between  the  purposes  and  ideal  of 
the  old  generation  and  of  the  new,  on  the  conflict  between  the  purposes  and 
ideals  of  the  women  of  the  new  generation  and  of  the  men,  on  the  hard  un- 
sentimentality  which  for  the  present  distinguishes  both  the  men  and  women 
of  the  new.  The  hero  and  the  heroine  are  a  Benedick  and  a  Beatrice,  in  that 
they  both  "made  light  of  love";  a  Benedick  and  Beatrice  who  have  made 
light  of  it  too  long  and  have  been  taken  in  its  snare  too  late  for  the  course 
of  true  love  to  run  smooth. 


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Marietta 

A  Maid  of  Venice 

By  F.  MARION   CRAWFORD 

Author  of  "In  the  Palace  of  the  King,"  "Ma  Cruets," 
"  Saracinesca"  etc. 

Cloth.     i2mo.     $1.50 

The  story  deals  with  a  romantic  episode  that  is  historically  true,  being 
taken  from  one  of  the  old  Venetian  chronicles  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  during  the  development  of  the  greatest  splendor  of  the 
Queen  of  the  Adriatic. 

The  action  and  interest  centre  in  the  household  of  a  master  glass-blower, 
a  member  of  one  of  the  most  powerful  Venetian  trade  corporations  which 
had  many  rights  and  curious  privileges,  and  are  picturesquely  brought  out. 

But  aside  from  its  power  as  a  story  and  its  vivid  picture  of  domestic  life 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  book  shares  the  peculiar  charm  of  "  Marzio's  Cruci 
fix,"  "  A  Roman  Singer,"  and  other  of  Mr.  Crawford's  descriptions  of  artists 
and  their  surroundings,  which  have  always  been  singularly  fortunate,  possibly 
because  of  special  sympathies  dating  from  his  boyhood  in  Rome,  where  his 
father  was  the  well-known  sculptor,  Thomas  Crawford. 


A  Friend  with  the  Countersign 

By   B.    K.    BENSON 

Autbor  of  "Who  Goes  Tbere  ?  "  etc. 

Cloth.      i2tno.     $1.50 

Those  who  have  read  "  the  best  spy  story  of  the  Civil  War  "  —  described 
by  the  Boston  Herald  as :  "  Quite  the  most  extraordinary  and  remarkable  of 
recent  stories  of  personal  adventure  in  warfare  ...  a  story  of  such  vividness 
and  power  that  once  you  have  gotten  immersed  in  it,  you  want  to  shut  out 
the  rest  of  the  world  completely  until  you  have  finished  it,"  will  not  be  sur 
prised  to  find  in  the  new  novel  a  story  of  desperate  personal  adventure, 
political  plot  and  counterplot,  villany,  and  of  a  devoted  woman's  love,  all 
interwoven  with  the  Virginia  Campaigns  of  Grant  and  Lee,  and  detailed  with 
rare  historical  accuracy. 


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NEW    FICTION 


Calumet  "  K  " 

By  MERWIN-WEBSTER 

Authors  of  "  Tbe  Short  Line  War,"  "  The  Banker  and  the  Bear,"  etc. 

Illustrated.    Cloth.    i2mo.    $1.50 

Calumet  "  K "  is  a  two-million-bushel  grain  elevator,  and  this  story  tells 
how  Charlie  Bannon  built  it  "  against  time."  The  elevator  must  be  done  by 
December  31.  There  are  persons  that  are  interested  in  delaying  the  work, 
and  it  is  these,  as  well  as  the  "  walking  delegates,"  that  Bannon  has  to  fight. 
The  story  of  how  they  tried  to  "  tie  up  "  the  lumber,  two  hundred  miles  away, 
and  of  how  he  outwitted  them  and  "  just  carried  it  off,"  shows  the  kinds  of 
thing  that  Bannon  can  do  best.  In  spite  of  his  temptation  to  brag  —  he  was 
for  two  years  a  "  chief  wrecker  "  on  the  Grand  Trunk,  and  has  many  stories 
to  tell  —  Bannon  is  one  of  the  men  without  whom  American  commerce  could 
not  get  on.  The  heroine  of  this  story  is  Bannon's  typewriter. 

Mr.  Henry  Kitchell  Webster  and  Mr.  Samuel  Merwin  have  discovered  in 
the  exciting  movements  of  trade  and  finance  a  field  of  fiction  hitherto  over 
looked  by  American  writers,  but  containing  a  great  wealth  of  romance. 


God  Wills  It 

A  Tale  of  the  First  Crusade 

By  WILLIAM    STEARNS   DAVIS 

Author  of  "  A  Friend  of  Ccesar  " 

Cloth.      i2mo.     $1.50 

The  story  revolves  around  the  adventures  of  Richard  Longsword,  a  re 
doubtable  young  Norman  cavalier,  settled  in  Sicily;  how  he  won  the  hand 
uf  the  Byzantine  Princess,  Mary  Kurkuas;  how  in  expiation  of  a  crime  com 
mitted  under  extreme  provocation,  he  took  the  vows  of  the  Crusader;  how 
in  Syria  his  rival  in  love,  the  Egyptian  Emir,  Iftikhar-Eddauleh  stole  from  him 
his  bride;  and  how  he  regained  her  under  romantic  circumstances  at  the 
storming  of  Jerusalem  by  the  French. 


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C>   UMM  ?*•  CT  jTTr^y 

" 

FEB  2  8  1996 

CIRCULATION  DE 

=T. 

OCT  25  20Gu 

^    i*  000 

f.tnvf     ,   3  cUvi 

IMIJ  y        J»     " 

«  0  6  2003 

FEB  2  7  2 

007 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD6  BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKE 


BOQ072MS1H 


